Card Captor Sakura: The power of Hope
by Akiyhrah
Summary: Someone is trying to kill Sakura and take her cards. Can she and Syaoran figure out who it is and stop them before it's too late? S&S...please R&R! COMPLETED
1. Li's Return

note I don't own Card Captor Sakura. I wish i could draw like that, but I can't... My Japanese is a little shakey, so please tell me about any spelling errors and mistakes so I can fix them. Arigatou! 

Li's return

Sakura Kinomoto sped down Cherry Tree Lane oh her roller blades. It was near the end of March, and Term 3 ended in a couple days. She couldn't wait to finish grade 11. She couldn't believe she was graduating the next year. She and her best friend, Tomoyo Daidouji, planned to travel for a little while before going to university. Sakura especially wanted to go to Hong Kong, for reasons of her own. It had been nearly 6 years since she last saw Syaoran Li and she missed him more and more every day.  
Sakura raced up to her front door, took off her rollerblades, and then went inside.  
"SAKURA!"  
She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being tackled by Keroberos.  
"Kero-chan! What if someone saw you? What if my dad had come through the door? How would I explain a flying, talking stuffed toy to him? Are you crazy?" Sakura yelled.  
"Hey, one question at a time. I saw your dad leave just a minute ago; he got in the car and took off. He left a note saying he was going to the school and he'd be back for dinner. And I'm not a stuffed toy, I'm Keroberos!" Kero said.  
"Whatever. Just be more careful, ok?" Sakura said.  
"Uh huh. Jeez, I'm the guardian beast of the seal, and I'm taking orders from a sixteen year old! Insane..." Kero muttered, flying off around the corner.  
Sakura sighed, and then headed toward the kitchen. On the counter was a pile of mail, so she picked it up and shuffled through it.  
"Bills... bills... for dad... free sample... oh?"  
At the bottom of the pile was a small envelope addressed to her. Sakura put the other mail down then turned the letter over to look at the return address, but it was blank.  
"Hmm..."  
Sakura ripped open the top and pulled out a small piece of paper. It said,

'Sakura,  
Go open your front door.  
Li.'

Sakura put the note down and headed toward the door.  
'Why would Syaoran-kun sand me a note saying to open my door? Did he send me something?'  
She reached for the knob and pulled the door open. What she saw next nearly made her faint.  
"Syaoran?"  
He was standing on her doorstep holding a bouquet of roses and had a huge, silly grin on his face. Sakura instantly wrapped her arms around him.  
"But...how?"  
Syaoran pulled away and handed her the flowers.  
"Never mind that. It doesn't matter. Look, I only have time to say hello... I have to go home. But I'll see you sometime tomorrow."  
"Home? Tomorrow? What do you mean?"  
Syaoran grinned.  
"I'll see you later," he said as he turned around and left.

XXXX

"I'M LATE?"Sakura ran around her room looking for her books. She had slept in, again. She pulled her school uniform on. Tomoeda High School's uniforms were knee length navy blue skirts, white blouses and a navy blue jacket for the girls and navy blue pants, a white shirt, and a navy blue jacket for the boys. Sakura thought it was boring. Sakura dashed down the stairs and through the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast as she went.  
"Ohayou Sakura," her father said.  
"Ohayou," she replied.  
"I think you have a visitor."  
"A visitor?"  
Sakura put her rollerblades on and said goodbye to her father. Then she disappeared through the door. Outside on the sidewalk stood Syaoran in a school uniform.  
"Hoee?"  
"Ohayou Sakura. Can I walk you to school?"  
"What are you doing here? Will you please fill me in?" Sakura asked.  
"I will soon. Come on, or we'll be late."  
Sakura joined Syaoran and they headed off toward the high school. They continued in silence as Sakura tried to figure out what was happening. She thought she might be dreaming. Sakura looked over at Syaoran, only to find that he was already gazing at her. When he noticed Sakura was looking at him, he turned bright red then smiled.  
"Nani?" she asked.  
Syaoran shook his head and turned back to the road, still smiling. They finally arrived at school and were greeted by confused smiles. Tomoyo was especially shocked.  
"Li-kun! I'm so happy to see you! But, how did you get here? Why are you here?" she said in one big gulp of air.  
"I really missed my friends here, so I transferred back for grad year," Syaoran replied.  
"That's great that we'll all graduate together," Tomoyo said.  
Sakura smiled then turned to stick her stuff in her locker.  
"Do you have classes for today and tomorrow? That would just be a waste of time, wouldn't it," Tomoyo continued.  
"No, I'm just hanging around for the last two days. Getting used to the building and all. I have to spend the day with a councilor today, but tomorrow I'm free to explore on my own," Syaoran said.  
"Cool! Sakura and I are finished our exams today, so we can all hang out tomorrow. We'll show you around."  
"All right. Well, I have to go. I'm supposed to go to the office. I'll see you at lunch." Syaoran said, as he turned around and took off.  
Tomoyo watched him until he was out of sight, and then turned to Sakura with a grin on her face.  
"So, I bet you're exited. Isn't it sweet? Your true love has come back because he couldn't bear to be parted from you any longer... how romantic..." Tomoyo said with a dreamy look in her eyes.  
"Stop that Tomoyo. He said he came back because he missed Tomoeda and everyone, not me," Sakura said.  
"But he meant you. It's not in what you say, but how you say it."  
Sakura sighed.  
"Come on, were gonna be late."

XXXX

At lunch, Sakura and Tomoyo met Syaoran outside to eat. Tomoyo kept asking him questions while Sakura listened.  
"So, how's Meiling?" Tomoyo asked.  
"She's fine. She wanted to come with me, but her parents wouldn't let her. I'm sure she'll find a way to get to here though. She usually gets what she wants," Syaoran replied.  
Tomoyo giggled.  
"That's true. I just hope she comes before school starts. What about your Mother and sisters?"  
"They're fine. "  
Tomoyo looked over at Sakura then back to Syaoran.  
"I'm going to go find Rika, Chiharu and Naoko. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you!" she said.  
She stood up and ran off before another word could be spoken. Sakura looked at Syaoran who blushed and turned away.  
"Well...I guess we're alone..." Sakura said.  
"Ya"  
"Umm... I was wondering...do you maybe want to come to my house for dinner or something? If your not too busy that is," Sakura mumbled.  
Syaoran gazed at her and blushed.  
"Ya... sure."  
Tomoyo appeared again followed by Rika Sasaki, Chiharu Mihara, Naoko Yanagisawa and Takashi Yamazaki, some of Sakura's closest friends.  
"Wow! It's true!" Chiharu exclaimed.  
"Ya, I didn't think Tomoyo was telling the truth," Rika said.  
"Of course she was you guys, Tomoyo never lies," Naoko said.  
"Ya, but I didn't expect Li-kun to like, actually fly all the way back here," Rika replied.  
"I wonder why he's here?" Naoko wondered out loud.  
Tomoyo cleared her throat.  
"Umm, guys..."  
The three girls turned to Tomoyo then looked over toward Sakura and Syaoran and blushed.  
"You'll have to excuse them Li-kun. They tend to get carried away in their conversations," Takashi stated.  
Everyone sat down and began to ask questions. Suddenly, the bell rang. Syaoran stood up.  
"See you after school," he said; then he turned and took off.

XXXX

"Otoo-san! I'm home!" Sakura yelled.Sakura's dad appeared in the doorway.  
"Hi Sakura. How was your day?"  
"Good. What's for dinner?"  
"Don't know yet. Oh, that reminds me. Touya and Yukito are coming for dinner tonight."  
"That doesn't surprise me. They always come over for dinner."  
Fujitaka laughed.  
"True enough."  
"Dad? I asked Syaoran-kun to come over for dinner tonight, is that all right?"  
"Sure."  
"Arigatou gozaimasu!"  
Sakura ran up the stairs and into her room. Kero was sitting in the window staring out over the rooftops.  
"Hey Kero-chan. What are you looking at?"  
Kero floated up and faced her. He shook his head.  
"Nothing."  
"Really. I don't believe you."  
"No, really. I was just thinking about something."  
Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, then walked to her closet and changed into a red tee shirt and black pants. Just as she finished hanging up her uniform, the doorbell rang. Sakura ran to her bedroom door. "I'll bring you dinner later. Jaa!" she said as she ran out into the hall.  
When Sakura got downstairs, she saw her brother Touya and his best friend Yukito Tsukishiro in the doorway. Touya was living with Yukito while he took classes at the local collage, and Yukito was a doctor at the hospital.  
"Hey Kaiju," Touya said.  
"Don't call me that!" Sakura yelled.  
"Touya, leave her alone." Yukito said, poking him in the shoulder.  
Touya smiled at Yukito then playfully ruffled Sakura's hair.  
"Go sit in the living room and I'll go get some tea," their father said.  
"I'll help you," Yukito said.  
Yukito and Fukitaka disappeared into the kitchen. Just as Touya and Sakura turned to go into the living room, the doorbell rang again. Touya turned and opened the door. When he saw who it was, he jumped back and glared out the door.  
"YOU!" he screamed.  
Syaoran, overcoming his surprise, glared back at Touya. Sakura ran over and grabbed Syaoran by the wrist, which seemed to make Touya angrier. Sakura pulled Syaoran in the house and kicked the door closed then casually dragged Syaoran into the living room. Touya stalked after them. Just as Touya opened his mouth to yell at Syaoran, Yukito appeared with a tray holding five cups and a teapot.  
"Hello Sayoran-kun! Long time no see, huh?" He said.  
"Not long enough..." Touya grumbled under his breath.  
Sakura laughed nervously then sat on the couch pulling Syaoran down beside her. Touya flopped into an armchair and Yukito put the tray on the table then sat in another armchair. Later at dinner, Sakura stared blankly across the table at her brother while he told his dad about his current job. Fujitaka sat at the head of the table with Sakura on his right and Touya on his left. Yukito sat beside Touya and Syaoran sat beside Sakura.  
"So Syaoran, What brings you back to Tomoeda?" Yukito asked.  
"Uh, no reason really," Syaoran replied.  
Sakura glanced at him. That upset her a little.  
"When are you leaving?" Touya demanded.  
Sakura kicked him under the table.  
"OW!"  
"Sakura, why don't you and Syaoran go up to your room or something while Touya and I talk." Fujitaka said.  
"Dad, I don't think that's a good idea..." Touya said, glaring at Syaoran.  
Sakura stood up and left the room with Syaoran following close behind.

XXXX

Sakura opened her bedroom door then shut it tightly after Syaoran entered her room. Kero was sitting on the windowsill again.  
"Sorry about Touya. He's a little over protective sometimes," Sakura said as she walked toward Kero.  
Syaoran just nodded. Kero turned around and when he saw Syaoran, Sakura shot her hand over his mouth because he started to yell.  
"Shh!" Sakura warned, removing her hand.  
"Hey kid! I thought you were in Hong Kong," Kero said.  
"I was."  
"When did you come back?"  
"Yesterday."  
"Well, what are doing here?"  
"I transferred back."  
"Why?"  
"Enough Kero," Sakura interrupted, not wanting to hear what Syaoran's response would be.  
Syaoran looked at Sakura and saw that she was upset about something.  
"Sakura..." he started.  
"Mmhm?"  
"Uhum...Why don't we go for a walk or something?"  
"Good idea. I'll see you later Kero-chan."  
"But what about my dinner?" Kero whined.  
"If you wait, I'll give you extra dessert," Sakura promised.  
"Oh... all right."

XXXX

"So, what's wrong?" Syaoran asked as soon as he and Sakura were down the road.  
She looked at him.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Your really quiet. It seems like something is wrong, that's all. Never mind."  
Sakura looked at Syaoran then back to the pavement. They walked all the way to Penguin Park then they sat on the swings. Sakura pushed dirt around with her foot.  
"Syaoran, why did you come back to Tomoeda?" she asked.  
He looked up at her with a confused look on his face.  
"I told you already."  
"No you didn't. You said you transferred back and that's it. You never specified why."  
Syaoran looked around looking for a way to avoid Sakura's questioning gaze.  
"Well?" she pressed.  
"Uhh...well I..." Syaoran sighed then looked at the ground. Sakura stood up and walked toward the penguin slide. She climbed the ladder and sat with her legs over the slide. Syaoran walked over and stood at the bottom. He used the toe of his shoe and drew circles in the dirt then got bored and leaned against the slide. Sakura watched him for a moment then slid down and headed away.  
"I'm going home. Maybe you should too." She said.  
Syaoran felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach, but he didn't want to upset her more so he headed in the opposite direction toward home.

XXXX

A dark figure stood on a nearby rooftop and watched Sakura as she walked toward home. 'Hmm, maybe it's time I took some action, I've waited long enough,' the person thought.  
The person jumped behind a house and disappeared into the setting darkness.

XXXX

The next morning when Sakura left for school, Syaoran was nowhere to be seen. She hoped he would be there this morning. She was really mean to him the night before and she wanted to apologize. After Sakura stopped at her locker and dumped her books off at her first class, she set out to find him. She ran into Tomoyo outside.  
"Ohayou!" she said cheerfully.  
"Morning Tomoyo..."  
"What's the matter? What happened?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Nothing. Hey, have you seen Syaoran this morning?"  
"No, but I'm sure he's around somewhere..."  
"Ya..."  
Sakura and Tomoyo walked around the school looking for Syaoran but they couldn't find him. Finally the bell rang so they gave up.  
"I'll see you at lunch, 'kay?" Tomoyo said.  
"Ya."  
Tomoyo walked off and Sakura headed toward her class. Before she got there she bumped into Syaoran. Before she could say anything, he shoved a note into her hands and walked off. Sakura stood staring off in the direction he went until the final bell rang. Then she ran the rest of the way to class. As her teacher went off about how much fun she had this year teaching the class, Sakura stared blankly at the note. It was written on lined paper and looked as if it was folded rather quickly. She slowly un-folded the paper and read the note.

'Sakura,

I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you. If you really want to know why I came back, well, I came back for you. I love you Sakura, I hope you still love me too. Or is that what's been bugging you? If it is, I'll understand. I wouldn't expect someone like you to love me forever anyway. I just thought you should know this. Well guess I'll see you at lunch.  
Li.'

Sakura wiped a tear from her face. 'I can't believe he thinks that I don't love him anymore...' she thought.  
She folded the letter and stuck it in the pocket of her jacket as she let out a long sigh. Kyra Akai spun around in her seat and stuck her face close to Sakura's.  
"What's up?" she asked.  
"What?"  
"You sighed. That usually means you're sad about something."  
Kyra had transferred to Tomoeda at the beginning of the year and had quickly joined Sakura's group of friends. Even though she was really nice, everyone thought she was too nosy.  
"Nothing's wrong. I'm just bored," Sakura lied.  
Kyra raised an eyebrow.  
"Uh huh. Sure there Kinomoto."  
"Miss Akai, would you and Miss Kinomoto like to share something?" their teacher asked, tapping a finger on her desk.  
Kyra stood up.  
"Yes Ma'am. We were just discussing how much were going to miss having you for our Maths teacher." she said.  
Sakura blushed and sunk into her chair.  
"That will be all, Miss Akai. Please sit down," the teacher said.  
Kyra sat down with a confidant grin on her face.

XXXX

"Syaoran, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sakura had found Syaoran outside talking to Tomoyo at lunch. Syaoran nodded and followed Sakura until they found a quiet spot to talk.  
"Umm...about your note..." Sakura started.  
Syaoran blushed and turned away.  
"Maybe I shouldn't have come back to Tomoeda," he said.  
"Do you always expect the worst Syaoran? I was going to say that I'm sorry for getting mad at you for no reason. I was just...I thought maybe...that you didn't care about me anymore..."  
Syaoran turned back to Sakura and gazed at her.  
"Of course I do. I care about you more than anything," he said.  
Sakura smiled.  
"Hey, what did you mean when you said 'someone like me?'" she asked.  
"I... uh, I meant someone as wonderful and beautiful as you..." Syaoran said, blushing.  
Sakura smiled again and fought to hold back tears.  
"Syaoran, umm...you don't have to worry... I still love you too."  
Syaoran opened his mouth to say something, but as he did Kyra jumped out from behind a wall.  
"BOO!" she screamed.  
Both Sakura and Syaoran jumped.  
"Kyra! How long have you been standing there?" Sakura asked, blushing furiously.  
"I saw you from over there and ran up to say hi. Hi!" she replied laughing.  
Sakura sighed.  
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Kyra Akai," she said, holding out her hand to shake Syaoran's.  
He stared at her hand then looked at her face.  
"This is Syaoran Li," Sakura said, "And we were just on our way back."  
"Well, ok then. I've gotta go anyway. I'll see you later!" Kyra said as she spun around and took off.  
"She's strange..." Syaoran said.  
"Oh, she's always like that. She has too much energy."  
"Hmm. Well, I don't trust her."  
"Li, you don't trust anybody," Sakura giggled, grabbing his arm and walking back toward where they left Tomoyo.

author's note well, thats the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. please R&R!


	2. Lightning

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Lightning

Sakura saw a blinding flash of light. She thought it was the card, but she was wrong. What she saw made her collapse. Blood sprayed across her face as her scream echoed throughout the darkness. An evil laugh overpowered Sakura's scream. Suddenly, everything swirled into nothingness.  
Sakura felt a hard slap across her face. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Kero hovering worriedly over her. Sweat ran down her face and back and fresh tears were in her eyes.  
"Sakura, what's wrong?" Kero asked.  
"I... don't know. I had a very strange dream."  
"It seemed more like a nightmare by the way you were thrashing about and whimpering. What happened?"  
"I'm not sure. There was a light then I fell and there was blood...it wasn't very clear. Do you think it's a vision?"  
"Maybe. Lets hope not."  
Just then, there was a knock at the door.  
"Sakura? Are you all right?" her father asked from outside.  
"Uh...ya. I'm fine."  
"Alright. Breakfast is twenty minutes."  
Sakura sighed and got out of bed. She threw on a pink tank top and blue shorts then brushed her hair as she stared out the window. Kero joined her by the window.  
"So, what do you think your dream means?" he asked.  
"I have no clue. I'll ask Syaoran later and see what he thinks."  
Kero gave her a sidelong glance.  
"Are you sure that's a good idea? He might freak out."  
"Kero! Don't be silly."

XXXX

"WHAT! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"  
Sakura had met Syaoran and Tomoyo in the park and told them about her dream. Syaoran had freaked out, as Kero had expected.  
"It's all right Syaoran. It was just a stupid dream," Sakura said, trying to calm him down.  
"Sakura, your dreams are always accurate. Don't take this so lightly!" Syaoran scolded.  
"Maybe Sakura's right. Maybe this time it's just a dream. You never know," Tomoyo said.  
"EXACTLY! You never know. Expect the unexpected remember? Or have you forgotten already?"  
"But this is different," Sakura argued.  
"How?"  
"Well"...  
"See? You can't come up with anything. Just admit that I'm right and we'll figure something out!"  
Sakura sighed.  
"I just have this feeling that I'll be fine... nothing will happen to me... I'm sure of it."  
"Sakura, why don't you be extra careful anyway just until we can figure out what your dream meant," Tomoyo interrupted.  
"Fine."  
Syaoran eyed Sakura carefully.  
"Promise you'll stay out of trouble?" he asked.  
"Ya... sure," Sakura sighed.  
Just as Syaoran opened his mouth to say something else, a little ball of lightning zoomed past Sakura's face, cutting a few of her hairs as it went.  
"What was THAT?" She yelped.  
She spun just in time to see the ball come flying back towards her. Syaoran leapt in and pulled her out of the way just in time.  
"Tomoyo! Go hide!" he yelled.  
Tomoyo nodded wide-eyed and ran off into the trees. Syaoran grabbed Sakura's wrist and ran as fast as he could. Just as they were crossing a bridge, the light whizzed past Syaoran's ear. He lost concentration and tripped over a loose board; luckily bringing Sakura down with him for the light flew by right where Sakura's head had been. Sakura jumped up and held out her star key.

"The key that holds the power of the stars Reveal your true form to me.  
I, Sakura, commands thee under convert.  
Release!"

The star staff appeared in Sakura's hands. Immediately she whipped out a star card.  
"Jump!"  
Little wings grew on the side of her shoes. The light came straight for her, so she jumped up onto the rail of the bridge. Then she fell. Syaoran jumped up and dove over the rail, grabbing her wrist. He was hanging halfway over the bridge, and was hanging onto Sakura as best he could. The light zoomed passed Syaoran's legs, tearing his pants. Syaoran lost his balance and both he and Sakura fell into the river below. The current was insanely strong, and it held them under. Syaoran, still clinging to Sakura's wrist, kicked as hard as he could and finally broke the surface of the water. He pulled Sakura up as well.  
"Syao..." Sakura started.  
The light wiped by cutting her off. It started rising in the air and falling, slapping the water trying it's best to hit them. Syaoran tried to swim to shore, but the current was just too strong.  
"Sakura! Use a card!" Syaoran yelled.  
"I'm trying! I can't reach them! You have to let go of my arm!"  
Syaoran hesitated, then the light whizzed by his face. Reluctantly he let go of Sakura. She grabbed a card and pulled it out.  
"Water! Wash us up to the shore!"  
Blue light surrounded them then the water in the river swept them up in a wave and washed them up onto the shore. Sakura ducked as the light came at her head again. She wiped out another card.  
"Shadow! Form a cage around the light!"  
A shadow appeared and surrounded the light in darkness, then closed into a tight ball. The light struggled, but then the shadow closed so tight the light was crushed. Sakura collapsed. Syaoran ran over to her and sat beside her.  
"Are you ok?" he asked.  
"I'm fine...just a little worn out," she sighed. "So, do you have any idea what that was?"  
"No clue."  
"Li-kun! Sakura!"  
They turned and saw Tomoyo on the opposite side of the river waving frantically.  
"Are you two all right?"  
"Were fine," Sakura called back.  
"So, Sakura, do you believe me now?" Syaoran asked.  
"No... I still have this feeling that I'll be safe... I'm sorry Syaoran."  
He sighed.  
"Fine. I'll just have to watch over you as much as possible."  
Sakura took his hand in hers and smiled.  
"I have no problem with that."

XXXX

"Sakura, Syaoran, why are you wet?" Fujitaka asked as Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo walked up the driveway to Sakura's house.  
"We, uh, fell in the river..." Sakura replied.  
"What! Are you two ok?"  
"Ya, were fine. We're just going to go dry off then we are going to go get ice cream."  
"Ok...oh, Touya is here, so you might want to be quiet."  
"Oh great..."  
Sakura led her friends into the house as quietly as possible, but Touya came out of the kitchen just as Sakura was heading up the stairs. He took one look at Sakura then dashed over to Syaoran and grabbed him by his shirt and spun him around to face him.  
"What did you do to my sister!" Touya demanded.  
"Touya! He didn't do anything! We fell in the river!" Sakura yelled.  
Syaoran managed to escape from Touya's grasp. He jumped back and took a fighting stance. Touya did the same.  
"STOP IT TOUYA!" Sakura yelled.  
Sakura grabbed Syaoran's arm and pushed him up the stairs then stood in front of Touya.  
"Leave him alone!" she demanded.  
"You're going to get hurt Sakura! That kid is trouble!"  
"He is not! You have no clue!"  
Sakura turned and stomped up the stairs, Syaoran and Tomoyo following close behind. When she reached her bedroom, she let her friends in ahead of her then slammed the door behind her. Kero, who was on the window ledge again, turned with a puzzled look ok his face. Then he saw that Sakura and Syaoran were all wet.  
"What happened?" He asked.  
Then he flew over to Syaoran.  
"You're supposed to protect her!"  
"KERO!" Sakura yelled.  
Then she turned in a huff and left her room. Kero, Syaoran and Tomoyo looked at each other in confusion. Syaoran and Tomoyo followed her out. They caught up with her outside. She was sitting on the grass with her head in her hands. Syaoran walked over to her and put his hand on her back.  
"Sakura, are you ok?" He asked.  
She looked up at him and nodded.  
"I just..."  
Sakura sighed.  
"Never mind."  
"Come on," Syaoran said, " lets go to my house and dry off."

XXXX

When they reached Syaoran's house, a smiling Wei greeted them.  
"It's only the first day of spring vacation and you two are already getting into trouble..." he laughed.  
Sakura smiled.  
"Indeed."  
Syaoran went and got two towels and gave one to Sakura then he went and grabbed some clean clothes. Then he went into the bathroom to dry off and change. When he came back, Sakura was sitting in the living room sipping tea, in his clothes. She was wearing one of Syaoran's tee shirts and a pair of his jeans. He stopped in the doorway and stared at her wide-eyed. She looked up and smiled.  
"Wei let me borrow some of your clothes so he could dry mine. I hope you don't mind," she said.  
"Uh... um...not... at all..."  
Syaoran came and sat across from her, blushing. The thought of Sakura wearing his clothes was too much to handle. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Sakura blushed too. Tomoyo giggled. When their clothes had dried, Sakura went into the bathroom to change. She neatly folded Syaoran's clothes and carried them out. She then handed them to him.  
"Thank you." She said.  
Syaoran nodded, then went and put them in his room. When he came back, Sakura was still standing, waiting for him.  
"Syaoran, who do you think sent the lightning ball?" she asked.  
"I have no idea Sakura. But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Besides, unless it's Clow Reid himself, you alone could beat them. And I'm sure with the two of us whoever it is doesn't stand a chance."  
"Maybe. I don't think I'm quite as strong as you think though."  
"We can work on that. If you want, I'll teach you how to fight as well. It will be hard work, but it will make you stronger and you will probably learn to control your magic better. What do you say?"  
Sakura nodded.  
"Sounds good to me. When do we start?" she asked.  
"How about tomorrow afternoon?"  
"Sure."

XXXX

As soon as Sakura and Tomoyo left, Syaoran ran back up to his room and flopped down on his bed. He had been wondering how he could protect Sakura ever since they were attacked. He didn't know why or who had sent the lightning, but he intended to find out. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Sakura. He rolled over onto his stomach, right onto the neatly folded clothes. He pulled them out from underneath him and stared at his shirt. It still smelled like Sakura. He blushed and hung it over his bedpost along with his jeans. Suddenly, his thoughts wandered toward Sakura's friend Kyra. He sat up, remembering the creepy feeling he was getting from her.  
'I knew I couldn't trust her!' he thought.  
Syaoran decided to talk to Sakura about her tomorrow and went downstairs to get something to eat.

XXXX

Sakura walked into her room and slammed the door shut behind her. Kero, who was once again sitting by the window, turned and greeted her. Sakura didn't say anything.  
"Sakura, are you still mad at me?" he asked.  
"Well...no. I'm sorry." Sakura replied.  
Kero nodded. Sakura came and joined him at the window.  
"How come you keep sitting here staring out the window?" she asked.  
"I sense an evil presence and I'm trying to locate it. I'm guessing whatever happened to you and the kid today was no accident. We need to find out who is emitting this energy and make sure they don't hurt anyone."  
"You're right. It was no accident. We were attacked by a lightning ball and we fell in the river."  
"A lightning ball? That's odd. Well, this person must have strong magic, so be really careful from now on." Sakura nodded.  
"Ya, Syaoran is going to teach me how to fight and control my magic better. I'm going over there tomorrow."  
"I don't know if that will help any. This energy is very powerful and I don't think learning how to fight will help you. But it's worth a try I guess."  
Sakura sighed then went to her closet and changed into her pajamas.  
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight."  
"Goodnight Sakura."

XXXX

Sakura woke up the next morning and put on a pair of black sweats and a black tank top. She tied her hair back as best she could then went downstairs for breakfast.  
"Are you going running this morning?" Fujitaka asked as she appeared in the kitchen.  
"Um, kind of..."  
"When are you leaving?"  
"Not for a while. I'm going at noon."  
Sakura grabbed some pancakes off the huge sack and started eating. When twelve o'clock came around, Sakura headed out the door and to Syaoran's house. Wei answered the door and led her into the backyard where Syaoran was already training. He was wearing the under-part of his robes; white pants and a white Chinese style shirt. He had his sword out and was slashing away at an invisible enemy. Sweat dripped off his hair and face. He looked up and smiled when he saw Sakura.  
"Are you ready to start?" he asked.  
Sakura nodded. Syaoran started showing her exercises he learned as a child. Sakura was learning very quickly. Syaoran was very impressed. Around three o'clock, Wei brought them some tea. They sat down and relaxed. Sakura was exhausted.  
"I never knew how hard all this is. You must have been determined as a child," Sakura said.  
"No, I just wanted to please my family. Back then, I wished that I had nothing to do with the cards because it was so much work and so much was expected of me. But I never told anyone and just did it anyway." Syaoran replied.  
"What about now? Do you still wish that you had nothing to do with the Clow cards?"  
Syaoran blushed and turned away from her.  
"Well... if it wasn't for the cards... we would have never met... so...no."  
Sakura smiled. Suddenly, Syaoran turned around to face her.  
"I almost forgot! I think that girl, Kyra, I think she might have something to do with the attack yesterday. I was getting a very strange energy from her when we met," he said.  
"That's weird. Kero said that he has been feeling a very strange energy in town lately... but it can't be Kyra. I know her pretty well. Plus, she's been her for a year already, so why would she wait until now to make her move? It doesn't make any sense."  
"Maybe not. But watch out for her, ok?"  
"Sure."  
Sakura and Syaoran soon finished up and went to go get ice cream. On the way, they bumped into none other than Kyra.  
"Hey guys! How are you doing?" she asked.  
"Uh, good."  
"Great! Oh, this is my sister, Arya. She graduated last year." Kyra said, pointing at a tall red head. She looked like an older version of Kyra. She turned around and looked shocked to see Sakura and Syaoran.  
"Uh, Konnichiwa... You must be Sakura. Kyra talks about you all the time," she said.  
"And this is Syaoran Li, Sakura's 'friend,' " Kyra said.  
Arya smiled.  
"Hajimemashite," she said.  
As soon as Kyra and Arya left, Syaoran turned to Sakura and said,  
"Didn't you feel anything? Kyra is giving off tons of negative energy."  
"No. I don't believe that Kyra has anything to do with the cards. I just can't see her being evil."  
Syaoran sighed.  
"Fine. Believe what you want, but I'm going to keep my eye on her anyway."  
"Fine."

author's note Well, another chapter up! I hope you all liked it. R&R please!


	3. Fire

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Fire

Sakura woke up and looked out the window where Kero was perched yet again. It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky. Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, Naoko, Chiharu, Takashi, Rika, and Kyra were all going to a funfair that came into town for the first week of spring holidays. Sakura couldn't wait to go on the rides. Kero wanted to come really bad, but Sakura promised to buy him pudding for two weeks and win him a teddy bear if he stayed home. When she went down for breakfast, she saw Touya sitting at the table as usual. Touya and Yukito never ate at home; in fact they spent more time at Sakura's house than their own.  
"Hey Kaiju," Touya said with a mouthful of pancakes.  
Sakura's face turned red and she hit him on the arm.  
"Don't call me that!"  
Touya just smirked. Fujitaka said good morning to Sakura and stuck a plate of pancakes in front of her.  
"Hey Touya, where's Yukito? It's not like him to miss breakfast," Sakura asked.  
"Ah, yea. He got called in early today. It's too bad too, we were gunna go to the funfair today," he replied.  
"Sakura's going with her friends today. Why don't you tag long Touya?" Fujitaka said.  
Sakura shot him a look. Touya just laughed.  
"Nah, I won't torture her today. I'll save that for her birthday," Touya said.  
"Don't you dare do anything to embarrass me!" Sakura yelled.  
Touya and Fujitaka laughed and Sakura turned red and sat in her chair sulking.  
Sakura met her friends by the funfair around noon. As usual, she was the last to show up. They headed inside and Kyra headed straight for the bumper cars.  
"My favorite! Lets go guys!" she said, bouncing over to the lineup.  
When the cars started, Kyra zoomed around hitting everyone possible, Sakura cowered in the corner, Takashi started telling people crazy facts about bumper cars, and everyone else was bumping into him to shut him up. Finally the ride ended and they all decided to go on the Ferris wheel. Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran and Kyra squished into one box while everyone else crammed into another. Kyra kept rocking the box back and forth sending Sakura into a fit of whimpers until finally Syaoran threatened to throw her out at the top if she didn't stop. Kyra just laughed then sat down. After the Ferris wheel, they went on a roller coaster and a water ride. Finally they all stopped to eat.  
"My feet hurt!" Sakura complained.  
"Yea, mine too," said Rika.  
"We can't stop now! We still need to go in the haunted house!" Kyra said.  
"Yea, ooh I can't wait!" Naoko said.  
"I don't want to..." Sakura said.  
"It's ok Sakura, These things are never scary. It's just a bunch of paper mache and glue." Tomoyo said.  
"Hoeeee..."  
After they ate, they headed to the haunted house. Sakura hid behind Syaoran and clutched the back of his shirt tightly. She jumped at everything. Kyra giggled and called her silly. They reached the attic of the house, which had one door coming in, and another going out. The room was decorated with cobwebs and there was a scene of three witches dancing around a fake fire. As they were passing, Sakura thought she saw a glimmer of light coming from the fire. She paused. Syaoran was the only one who noticed. He stopped as the rest of the group went through the door.  
"Sakura?"  
She looked at him for a moment then turned back to the fire.  
"I... I thought I saw..."  
"Saw what?"  
I don't know...Just my imagination. I want to leave Syaoran..." she whimpered.  
"Well, we're about halfway through the tour, so lets catch up."  
"No, I'm going to go back the other way. I already know what's down there so I'll be ok..."  
"Do you want me to come?" Syaoran asked.  
Sakura shook her head.  
"I'll be ok. You go catch up," Sakura said.  
He nodded then hesitated a moment. Sakura told him she'd be fine, so he turned and left. Sakura watched him leave then slowly walked to the fire. She reached out her hand very slowly, paused, and then placed her hand on the cardboard flame. She sighed, and then headed toward the door to head back. She reached out and grabbed the handle, but found it locked. She tried it again, but it was no use. Sakura got scared then decided to catch up to Syaoran. She ran for the other door, but it swung shut before she could reach it. Sakura grabbed the handle and yanked on it, but it was locked too. She pounded her fists on the door, hoping someone would hear, but nobody came. Sakura sank to the floor and started to cry. Suddenly, she smelled smoke. She looked up and found that the cardboard fire was now real, and flames were leaping up the wall. Sakura screamed then frantically tried to open the door again. The flames leapt across the roof and the door caught fire. Sakura leapt back and pulled out her key.

"The key that holds the power of the stars Reveal your true form to me.  
I, Sakura, commands thee under convert.  
Release!"

Sakura pulled out the water card, but it seemed to have little effect of the fire. She tried again, but it wasn't working. 'Oh no! I'm trapped! What should I do?" Sakura thought, as tears ran down her face. She searched for another way out, but couldn't find one. There wasn't even a window. The whole room had filled up with smoke and flames. Sakura could hardly breathe, and she could no longer see. She felt dizzy. She hit something hard, and then suddenly everything went black.

XXXX

"Where's Sakura?" Tomoyo asked Syaoran when he had caught up.  
"She insisted on going back the other way and said I should come back with you guys. She's probably waiting outside right now," Syaoran replied.  
After the haunted tour finished, Syaoran and Tomoyo searched around for Sakura, but she was nowhere to bee seen.  
"Maybe she got scared or something..." Tomoyo said.  
"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," Syaoran said.  
The rest of their friends came over and asked where Sakura was. Tomoyo filled them in as Syaoran asked the ticket guy if he had seen her. He said no. Suddenly, someone yelled "FIRE!" Everyone turned and saw smoke coming out of the haunted house.  
"SAKURA!" Syaoran yelled. He ran back into the burning building before anyone could stop him.  
"IS HE STUPID?" The ticket guy screamed.  
"Yup," Kyra replied.  
About twenty people whipped out their cell phones to call the fire department. Tomoyo and everyone else huddled by the door hoping to see their friends emerge unharmed.

XXXX

Syaoran raced through the house through smoke and flames. He could barely see, and he kept coughing. Finally, he reached the attic. The door was completely on fire. Syaoran used his sword to hack the door apart then he leapt over the fallen roof beams into the room, which was engulfed in flames. He peered through the smoke and found Sakura lying in the center of the room. He raced over to her and saw she was clutching her star key. He fell to the floor beside her and lifted her head.  
"Sakura? Sakura speak to me!"  
Syaoran shook her lightly. Her eyes fluttered. Sakura coughed, and then she opened her eyes.  
"Sya...Syaoran?"  
"Yes. Come on Sakura, we have to get out of here."  
Syaoran lifted Sakura to her feet but she went limp. Syaoran lifted Sakura who was unconscious again and got out of the building as fast as he could. Finally, he saw the exit. He dashed out of it then collapsed on the pavement coughing. Their friends rushed over immediately.  
"Are you ok?" Tomoyo asked.  
"I'm all right, but I'm nor sure about Sakura..." Syaoran replied.  
There were sirens and flashing lights as two fire trucks and an ambulance sped up to the burning building. A doctor rushed over to them.  
"What happened?" he asked, prying Sakura away from Syaoran and checking her pulse.  
"She was caught in the fire," Syaoran said.  
"And you went in after her?" the doctor asked.  
Syaoran blushed and nodded.  
"You know that you're not supposed to go into a burning building, right"  
"She could have died!" Syaoran shouted.  
"Calm down please. What is this girl's name?"  
"...Sakura..." Syaoran said.  
The doctor pulled a wet towel out of his bag and put it on Sakura's forehead.  
"Sakura? Can you hear me?" he said.  
Once again Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She groaned and coughed then sat up.  
"Wh...What happened?" she asked.  
"Are you feeling ok?" the doctor asked.  
"I...I think so."  
"Ok then, I want you to go home and get some rest. If there is any problems I want you to go to the hospital immediately, Alright?"  
Sakura nodded. The doctor stood and went back to the ambulance. Syaoran got to his feet then helped Sakura up. She staggered, then got her balance, but still leaned on Syaoran for support. Tomoyo's bodyguards came to pick her up and they gave Sakura and Syaoran a ride to Sakura's house. Syaoran helped her inside and put her on the couch.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked.  
"Uh, I'm a little tired, but otherwise I'm ok. I'm just glad Touya isn't here..." she replied.  
"Yea..."  
Syaoran stayed for dinner that night to make sure she was ok. Fujitaka thanked him and offered him a ride home but he insisted on walking. Sakura fell asleep fast that night. Unfortunately she had the same terrifying dream she'd been having every night since the start of spring vacation.

author's note sorry this chapter's a little short. I think the next two will be kinda short too, and there wont be much action, but I promise I'll get back to that soon! R&R!


	4. The Gift

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

The gift

"Saaaakuuuuraaaaa..."  
Sakura rolled over and looked at her clock. It was 6:30 in the morning.  
"Hey Sakuuuuura..."  
She groaned and put her pillow over her face.  
"KAIJU! GET UP!"  
Suddenly, the blankets were ripped off her bed, sending Sakura crashing to the floor. She sat up rubbing her head then looked up to see Touya standing over her laughing.  
"What do you want?" she demanded.  
"You have to get up now," he replied.  
"Why?"  
"Because it's your birthday!"  
"So?"  
"Well, it's no fun for me if I don't get to torture you."  
Sakura threw her pillow at him.  
"THANKS A LOT!" she yelled.  
After Sakura got up, she checked the mail and saw that Eriol, Meiling and Mizuki sensei had sent her birthday gifts. She opened them while she ate. Eriol had sent her some candies from England, Mizuki sensei had sent her a protection charm she made herself and Meiling sent her a beautiful Chinese barrette. She put it in her hair and put the charm around her neck. 'I might be needing this...' she thought.  
Around noon, all her friends came over for a party. She opened Tomoyo's present first. She had made Sakura a beautiful red dress. Touya got her a watch.  
"Now maybe you'll be on time for once..." he said to her.  
"Ha...ha...ha..." Sakura said very sarcastically.  
Naoko got her a book, Chiharu got her a new pair of pink fuzzy slippers, Rika made her a stuffed rabbit, and Takashi got her a cute little plant. She opened Yukito's gift next. He got her 'wand polish.' It was regular polish, but he had made a label for it. Sakura blushed and hid it before anybody saw the label. Kyra gave her a charm bracelet, and her dad gave her a book that was full of pictures of her and her mother.  
"Wow... dad this is amazing! Thank you so much!" she said.  
"No problem. I thought you would like it," Fujitaka replied.  
Finally, Syaoran gave her his present. It was a silver chain that had a Sakura blossom pendant on it. The blossom was rose quartz and was framed in silver. "It's beautiful...thank you!" she said as she gave him a big hug.  
Syaoran blushed and said, "No problem."  
Afterwards, they had chocolate cake that was decorated with little cherry blossoms. That was a bad idea. A bunch of hyper teenagers is not a good thing. Fujitaka made them all go outside, so they went to the park. Kyra, who was the most hyper, ran around the penguin slide really fast until she got dizzy and fell down giggling. Chiharu, Rika and Naoko chased Takashi around and tried to steal his shirt, and Sakura was doing back flips and cartwheels on the grass. The only ones that didn't seem to be hyper were Syaoran and Tomoyo.  
"You ate more cake than anyone. "How come you're not acting crazy?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Because I never get hyper," Syaoran answered.  
"Oh."  
"How come you're not hyper?" Syaoran asked.  
"Because I didn't have any cake," she replied.  
"Why?"  
"I just didn't want any."  
Syaoran watched as Sakura ran to the playground and tackled Kyra. They rolled around on the ground giggling. Syaoran sighed.  
"What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Huh? Oh, nothing."  
"Uh huh."  
"Well, you see...I have another gift for Sakura, but I don't know if I should give it to her..."  
"What is it?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Well..."Syaoran trailed off.  
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He handed it to Tomoyo, blushing. She opened it and inside was a silver ring with small pink stones in it, in the shape of a cherry blossom. Tomoyo picked it up, and inside the ring was engraved writing. It said, 'I will love you forever'.  
"Is this... an engagement ring?" she asked.  
Syaoran nodded. Tomoyo handed it back to him and smiled.  
"That's so sweet! Sakura will be so happy. When are you going to give it to her?" she asked.  
"I dunno...when the time is right I guess. I have no idea when."  
"Well, I wish you luck," Tomoyo said smiling.  
"Thanks."  
Later on that night, Tomoyo laid in bed trying to fight the urge to tell Sakura what Syaoran was planning. But she knew she couldn't, and she would never tell a secret. Tomoyo grabbed her sketchbook and started drawing designs for Sakura's wedding dress.  
"It's going to be so much fun!"

author's note Aww! how cute! anyway, sorry about the short chapters, but there is stuff i have to do before i can go on with the story. There will be more action soon, i promise!


	5. Meling

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Meiling

The next day Tomoyo met Sakura downtown for shopping. Tomoyo wanted to buy a new video camera and Sakura wanted to buy a cute mini skirt that she had wanted for a while. It was yellow and little pink flowers all over it. They walked around a little after buying the camera and skirt then decided to stop at a stationary shop.  
"This reminds me, I got a letter from Eriol a couple days ago," Tomoyo said as she picked out cute blue paper.  
"Oh? I haven't heard from him in a while. How is he?" Sakura asked.  
"He's ok. He said he was sorry for not writing to all of us sooner, but he has a lot of things to take care of. He never mentioned what it was though. He also says Mizuki Sensei is really busy and hasn't had time to write either," Tomoyo explained.  
"That explains why I haven't gotten letters from either of them lately."  
"Yea. But I really want to know what they are up to. He didn't say anything; only that he was busy. He's so secretive sometimes. Anyway, I wrote him back and asked him why they were so busy. I just hope he says something."  
"That's not weird for them though. They never tell us what's going on," Sakura sighed and picked up pink paper.  
Her and Tomoyo paid for the paper, then left the store.  
"Where do you want to go now?" Sakura asked.  
"I don't know...we could go to the bakery and get something to eat..." Tomoyo suggested.  
"Sure. I was getting hungry anyway."  
Sakura and Tomoyo made their way to the bakery. When they went in, they saw Touya and Yukito sitting by the window. Yukito waved at them and called them over.  
"Hi guys. What are you doing today?" Sakura asked as she and Tomoyo sat down.  
"Not much. Were just out for a bite to eat. How about you?" Yukito said.  
"We were just doing a little shopping. I think were pretty much done now though," Sakura replied.  
After they had all eaten, Touya and Yukito headed off to the library while Sakura and Tomoyo went to Syaoran's house. Tomoyo told him all about the letter she had received from Eriol.  
"So, what do you think?" she asked him.  
"I dunno. I think he knows something we don't, and you know him, he likes to make us find out the hard way," he said.  
"Well, maybe he is trying to protect us or something," Sakura replied.  
Syaoran shrugged.  
"Well, let's just hope he answers my letter," Tomoyo said.  
Eventually, Tomoyo had to go home so Sakura and Syaoran walked her to her house. After Tomoyo left, they went to the park and sat down on a bench that was under a tree. It was getting late, and the sky was turning a pale purple from the setting sun. There was nobody around.  
"It sure is pretty tonight," Sakura said.  
"Yeah."  
"What's the matter?" Sakura asked.  
Syaoran looked up suddenly.  
"Uh... nothing."  
"I can tell there is something bothering you."  
"I...just have something on my mind. It's nothing... really." Sakura nodded.  
"If you say so."  
"Uh, Sakura?" Syaoran said.  
"Yes?"  
"Um, I...I want to ask you..."  
Just then someone screamed their names. They looked up and saw Meiling running over t them happily.  
"Meiling!" Sakura said as she jumped to her feet and have her a hug.  
Syaoran sighed and hugged Meiling too.  
"I'm so happy to see you Sakura! It's been so long!" Meiling said.  
"I know! It's great to see you again. How did you get here?" Sakura asked.  
"Well, I finally convinced my parents to let me come back here and stay with Syaoran. I told them what he has been telling me about the weird things going on lately and that you might need some more help, and they let me come!" Meiling replied.  
"I'm so glad. Oh! We have to go see Tomoyo! She'll be so happy to see you!" Sakura said.  
"Sure."  
The three of them made their way to Tomoyo's house. When she answered the door, she was ecstatic. She hugged Meiling then proceeded to ask her a whole lot of questions. After they got caught up a little, Sakura had to go home, and so did Syaoran and Meiling. So they made plans for the next day then said goodnight.  
The next day Sakura met Syaoran, Tomoyo and Meiling at the park. Meiling and Tomoyo Sat on the swings as Syaoran as Sakura sat on the grass talking. Suddenly, A squeal came from Meiling. Sakura looked up in surprise and confusion. Syaoran just blushed. He knew that Tomoyo had just told Meiling about the ring. Meiling looked over at him and grinned. Syaoran pretended that he didn't see her. Sakura was happy Meiling was back, but she found it hard to enjoy the day. She found herself constantly looking behind her back and feeling paranoid. But she knew Syaoran would protect her if he needed to and felt a little better. She thought about Eriol and Mizuki Sensei and what they were up to. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what they might be planning, but she had a feeling that they knew something about this strange force that seemed out to get her. She only hoped that they could help her before it was too late.

author's note yay! Meling's back! I know it was another short chapter, but the next one should be much longer, and more action packed too! I hope you enjoyed this one!


	6. Li's Sword

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Li's Sword

'Six days until the new semester...' thought Sakura the next morning. She had been marking the days on her calendar and felt more nervous each day. 'At least Syaoran will be with me.'  
She got up and dressed then went downstairs for breakfast. Her father had been called in early so she had to settle for cereal and toast. Kero flew down the stairs yawning.  
"Good morning Kero-chan!" Sakura said brightly.  
"Good morning...what's for breakfast?"  
Sakura laughed and gestured to the cereal. Kero pulled out a bowl and filled it with cereal.  
"What are you doing today?" he asked.  
"Umm, as far as I know, Syaoran and I are going shopping. We both need new school stuff so we figured that we'd go today. I probably wont be back until after dinner, and dad will be gone all day so you're on your own all day."  
Kero groaned through mouthfuls of cereal.  
"Why can't I come? I'm sick of being cooped up in the house."  
"You know that you can't go flying around town! People will start to wonder. I'll tell you what...I'll buy you a new video game today... ok?"  
Kero cheered and shoveled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth.  
"Thanks Sakura."  
Sakura laughed. She then got up and put her dishes in the dishwasher then got ready to leave.  
"Well, I'll see you later!" she called.  
"Bye Sakura!"

XXXX

Sakura walked up to Syaoran's house and knocked. Wei greeted her."Good morning Wei! How are you?" she asked.  
"I'm fine, and you?"  
"Great!"  
Just then Syaoran walked down the stairs. When he saw Sakura he smiled.  
"Good morning Sakura."  
"Good morning!"  
Syaoran slipped on his shoes.  
"Shall we go?" he asked.  
Sakura nodded. They said goodbye to Wei and left. As soon as they reached the stores, they headed for the nearest supply store. Sakura asked Syaoran what Meiling was doing and he told her that her and Tomoyo were getting together that afternoon. Sakura was a little surprised by that, but didn't worry about it. Around 4:00, Syaoran and Sakura started to head back home. Just as they were about to leave, Sakura remembered that she was supposed to pick up a game for Kero.  
"Oh no!" she exclaimed.  
"What is it?"  
"I was supposed to pick up a new video game for Kero..."  
"Well, we can go back. The electronics store is right over there."  
Sakura smiled.  
"Ok, lets go!"  
They backtracked and headed to the electronics store. Sakura looked around and picked up a game she was sure Kero would enjoy, then they paid for it and left. They decided to take the long way back and walk through the park. It was only around 5:00, but Sakura noticed that it was unusually dark.  
"Umm, Syaoran..."  
Just then they were surrounded by total darkness. Sakura yelled out to Syaoran. He grabbed her hand and told her not to panic.  
"What's going on?" Sakura yelled.  
"I have no idea..."  
Just as soon as the darkness came, it was gone. But when it disappeared, they were no longer in the park. Instead they found that thick, black walls surrounded them. They appeared to be in a really big box. Sakura whimpered.  
"What's happening?"  
"Just stay calm Sakura. Don't worry, ok? I'll..." Syaoran trailed off.  
He dropped Sakura's hand. He took a couple steps foreword, and then his sword appeared in his hand. He turned to Sakura and stared at her. But something was wrong.  
"Syaoran? Are you ok?" she asked.  
He raised his sword and pointed it at Sakura. She let out another whimper and took a step back. Syaoran's eyes looked empty.  
"What are you doing?" she whispered.  
Syaoran lunged foreword and took a swing at her. She screamed and jumped out of the way just in time. Syaoran slashed at her again, narrowly missing her. Sakura called her staff then summoned the jump card. Syaoran kept attacking, but Sakura didn't want to hurt him. She knew she had to do something. She summoned the strength card then lunged foreword and grabbed the hilt of his sword. She pulled, and managed to wrestle it away from him. Syaoran fell backward, dazed.  
"Wha...what happened?"  
He started to stand, but before he could his sword was pointed directly at his chest.  
"Sakura?"  
Her eyes were empty. Syaoran inched back until he was backed up against the wall. Sakura raised the sword so it pointed between his eyes. Syaoran started to panic. Sakura pulled the sword back, then thrust it foreword. Syaoran caught it between his hands. Sakura twisted the sword so the sharp edge cut into Syaoran's flesh. He cried out in pain, but didn't dare release the sword. Slowly, the blade inched closer and closer to his face. Each time it moved, it sent a bolt of pain through his body. Syaoran was straining to push the sword away from him. Suddenly, the sword slipped through his hands. Just as it came flying toward him, Syaoran dodged to the side and the sword plunged into the wall. Sakura tried to pull it out, but it was stuck. Syaoran took this opportunity to leap foreword and pull Sakura away from it. They went crashing to the floor. Sakura blinked, then sat up.  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
Sakura turned, and saw Syaoran lying on the floor face down. He had blood all around him.  
"Syaoran!"  
She crawled over to him and helped him sit up. She looked at his hands and gasped. Syaoran groaned. Sakura took off her sweater and ripped two strips off, then tied them around his hands.  
"What happened?" she asked.  
"I think... my sword... there is a spell around it," Syaoran said.  
"Are you ok Syaoran?"  
"I'll be fine..."  
Sakura helped Syaoran stand, and then looked around. Suddenly the walls started to disintegrate. Syaoran's sword fell to the ground. He walked over to it. He bent down, and then hesitated.  
"Syaoran?"  
He reached out, and then touched it. Sakura inhaled and held her breath. After few seconds Syaoran picked it up and put it away. Sakura sighed then walked over.  
"Let's go to your house... Wei will know what to do."

XXXX

"OH MY GOD! Syaoran, are you ok?"  
Meiling had rushed to the door and was now freaking out. It was no surprise though; Syaoran was covered in blood. Syaoran pushed past her and staggered to the couch. Meiling ran to find Wei. Sakura sat beside Syaoran and held his hands.  
"I'm so sorry..." she whispered.  
"It's not your fault... I could have easily... done the same thing to you."  
Wei came into the room with Meiling at his heels. He came over to Syaoran and peeled off the makeshift bandages. After inspecting the wounds, he treated them and wrapped them in clean bandages. Meiling kept hovering around trying to help, and when Wei finally told her to go away, she called Tomoyo and told her what happened. When Sakura returned home later, she was relieved to see that her dad wasn't home yet. She ran upstairs, showered, and then changed her clothes. By the time her dad got home, it was almost as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately for Sakura, it haunted her for the rest of the night.


	7. Twins

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Twins

The next day, Sakura woke up early and walked downtown. She stopped at the candy store and picked up a bunch of chocolate and snacks. When she was done, She wandered up to Syaoran's house. She arrived around noon. Wei greeted her and asked her to wait downstairs while he told Syaoran she was here. While she was waiting, Meiling came into the room carrying a tray with a glass of orange juice and what looked to be burnt noodles on balanced it.  
"Hey Sakura. How are you?" Meiling asked.  
"I'm good...what's that?" Sakura replied.  
"Oh, it's lunch for Syaoran-kun."  
"Umm... it looks..."  
Sakura trailed off just as Wei returned to the room.  
"Master Li asked me to tell you to come right up, Kinomoto-san," he said.  
"Thank you Wei."  
Sakura grabbed her bag and walked up to Syaoran's room. She knocked on the door, and then peeked in. Syaoran was sitting on his bed reading a book. He was wearing a loose grey tee shirt and pajama pants. His hands were heavily bandaged. He looked up at her and smiled.  
"Hey...how are you feeling?" Sakura asked.  
"I'm fine...but Wei wants me to rest for a few days. He says I lost a lot of blood so I might be a little weak. But I don't feel weak."  
"Well, you don't want to take chances...how are your hands? Do they hurt?"  
"Not really, only when I make fists. The doctor said that they should heal in a few weeks, but I heal fast so it might be sooner."  
Sakura walked over to Syaoran and handed him the bag with the snacks in it. She stood at the end of his bed and watched him open it.  
"What's this for?" he asked.  
"I...felt bad about what happened. I wanted to make it up to you...and make you feel better," Sakura replied.  
"Sakura! How could you blame yourself? I could have easily done the same thing...to you...remember?"  
"I know, but I still feel bad about it I should have been able to fight it," Sakura said.  
"Just forget about it, alright? Neither of us could have done anything, so let's just drop it, ok?" Syaoran suggested.  
"Sure...I guess. But the chocolate is still yours," Sakura giggled.  
Syaoran smiled. Just then, Meiling opened the door, still holding the tray of food.  
"Syaoran, it's time for lunch," she said as she walked over to the bed and placed the tray on his bedside table.  
Syaoran made a face when e saw what was on the tray.  
"What the hell is that?" he exclaimed.  
"Fried noodles!" Meiling replied shrilly.  
"It's burnt! I'm not going to eat that!"  
"But you have to build up your strength!"  
"Not with burnt noodles!"  
Syaoran stood up, picked up the tray, and then left the room. Sakura looked at the hurt look on Meiling's face, then the two of them followed him out of the room. They found him in the kitchen just about to throw the noodles in the garbage.  
"No! Don't!" Meiling cried.  
Syaoran stopped, and then put the tray on the counter. He turned and looked at Meiling, then said, "You eat it then, 'cause I'm not."  
"But I made it for you!"  
"It's burnt! If you want to help me, you can start by NOT cooking for me, got it?"  
Meiling crossed her arms and pouted and Syaoran. Sakura looked from Syaoran to Meiling. She had no idea what to say. Syaoran crossed his arms as if to say, 'and that's final!' Meiling stuck her tongue out at him then spun around and left the room. Sakura looked at Syaoran and shrugged.  
"Remind me never to cook for you..." she joked.  
Syaoran gave a little half smile. "I'll eat whatever you make... even if it's burnt..."  
Sakura laughed and gave Syaoran a hug.

XXXX

Meiling stormed out of the house and down the street. She wanted to be alone for a while. She was just trying to help, but Syaoran never understood. She wandered over to the elementary school and hopped the fence. It was strange being at the school while nobody else was around. It was unusually quiet, and it seemed creepy to her. Meiling walked around to the field and climbed up a ladder to the roof. She remembered the day that she accidentally called the shot card and it attacked Syaoran. She felt like she was never any help. 'Why do I even try?' she wondered. 'I should just go back to Hong Kong. I'm always in the way; I'm such a nuisance!' Suddenly the wind picked up. It whipped her hair into her face. A strange light appeared in front of her.  
"What's happening?" she cried.  
The light zoomed toward her. She was engulfed in the strange light. She started to feel dizzy, then sleepy. The light stopped suddenly, and standing before her was a girl who looked exactly like herself. The girl grinned, then Meiling blacked out.

XXX

"Sakura, Meiling still hasn't returned home. Will you help me look for her?"   
Syaoran had waited all day for Meiling to return so he could apologize for being so mean earlier. But when she didn't show up, he got worried and called Sakura.  
"I'll help. I'll meet you in the park in ten minutes, ok? And I'll call Tomoyo too," Sakura replied.  
"Ok, see you then. And thanks."   
Syaoran told Wei where he was going and promised to take it easy, and then he grabbed a jacket and left. When he got to the park, Tomoyo was already there waiting.  
"Hey Syaoran-kun. How are you feeling?" she asked.  
"Fine really," he replied.  
Tomoyo nodded and was about to say something, but Sakura ran up and said hi.  
"Ok, so where should we start?" Sakura asked.  
"I thought we should split up. We can cover more ground that way. We'll start in the park, ok? Let's meet back here in half an hour," Syaoran said. Tomoyo and Sakura agreed, then they set off in different directions. Tomoyo took the path that lead deep into the forest, Sakura headed past the bridge, and Syaoran covered the rest of the park. Tomoyo walked along the path, calling out Meiling's name. It was unusually quiet. Suddenly, she heard a noise a little ways into the trees.  
"Meiling? Is that you?" Tomoyo called.  
Tomoyo carefully stepped off the path and into the trees. She walked for about five minutes, and was about to turn back when the wind started to pick up. She turned around and floating in front of her was a strange light.

XXXX

Half an hour later, Sakura and Syaoran met back at the playground. They waited and waited, but Tomoyo didn't show up.  
"Do you think she's lost?" Sakura asked.  
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should look for the both of them together... it would be safer." Syaoran suggested.  
"We'll be ok, we both have magic, remember? If either of us get into trouble, send out some sort of signal, ok?"  
"Yea… ok."   
Syaoran watched Sakura as she headed down the trail Tomoyo went down, and then walked down a different path. Everything was so quiet… too quiet. He peered into the trees, but saw nothing. He was getting a strange feeling, as if somebody was approaching him. He drew his sword, but because of his wounds, had trouble holding it. A dark shape appeared in the trees. Just as Syaoran raised his sword to strike, Tomoyo stepped out of the trees. Syaoran relaxed and sighed.  
"Oh, it's just you. You startled me Tomoyo," he said.  
She didn't reply. Something about her was wrong. She appeared to be angry. Syaoran asked her what was wrong as he put his sword away. She glared at him.  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" she suddenly shouted.  
Syaoran was taken aback. He had no idea what she meant. He just stared at her.  
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"  
"Tomoyo, what do you mean?" Syaoran asked.  
"You took my best friend from me! It's exactly what Sakura's father did to my mother! YOU STOLE HER FROM ME!" she screamed.  
"What are you talking about? You're still Sakura's best friend!" Syaoran replied.  
I hate you! I hate you so much!"  
Before Syaoran could reply, Tomoyo leapt at him. He put up his arms to block her flailing punches. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had no clue how to stop her without doing so. He caught hold of her wrists and held them tight. Tomoyo struggled against him. He could feel blood soaking through his bandages. His wounds had obviously opened during the struggle. Syaoran used his feet and kicked Tomoyo off of him. She flew backward and landed on the path. She got right back up, but now she was holding a huge tree branch. She took a swing at him. Syaoran leapt back, and noticed that Tomoyo had cut her arm when she had landed. Only instead of bleeding, her wound seemed to be emitting light. He then realized that this wasn't Tomoyo at all. He drew his sword once more and struck with all his might. The Tomoyo replica exploded in a shower of light, leaving nothing behind but the branch. Syaoran flopped to the ground, exhausted. Then he heard a scream.  
"Sakura!" He got up and ran as fast as he could through the trees in the direction of the scream. Suddenly he stumbled over something. He bent down to see what it was and saw Tomoyo sprawled on the ground. He quickly checked to make sure she was alive, then picked her up under one arm and carried her as fast as he could through the trees.

XXXX

As Sakura walked down the path, she wondered why it was so quiet. It was really starting to scare her. As she got to a bridge in the path, she noticed somebody standing in her way. The person turned around and Sakura realized that it was Meiling.  
"Meiling! We've been looking for you! We were so worried!" she exclaimed.  
"You stupid bitch," Meiling spat.  
Sakura was stunned. Why was Meiling being so mean?  
"Meiling…?"   
"You stole Syaoran from me. I loved him, but you swooped right in on my territory and took him from me! Who the hell do you think you're fooling?" Sakura could feel tears in her eyes.  
"Why are you saying this?" she sobbed.  
"So you know why I am going to kill you."   
Meiling leapt at Sakura, who screamed. Meiling threw a punch, but Sakura dodged it. She pulled out her star key and summoned her wand, but didn't know what to do to stop Meiling. She summoned the fight card and delayed Meiling by blocking all of her attacks, but she knew she couldn't hold her off for long.

XXXX

Syaoran burst through the trees and saw Sakura desperately trying to fight off Meiling. He put Tomoyo down beside a tree and rushed to Sakura. She was relieved to see him. Syaoran charged at Meiling sword first.  
"Don't hurt her!" Sakura screamed.  
He plunged his sword right through the fake Meiling, who like the other imposter, burst into a shower of light. Sakura stared dazedly at the spot where Meiling had been standing moments before.  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
"I'm not entirely sure. That was a fake Meiling. An imposter Tomoyo attacked me just a few minutes ago." Syaoran explained.  
"Well, if they're fake, where are the real Tomoyo and Meiling?"  
Syaoran pointed behind Sakura to where Tomoyo lay. Sakura ran to her and after making sure she was alive, asked where Meiling was.  
"I still don't know. We have to keep looking for her," Syaoran said.  
Sakura shook Tomoyo lightly. Her eyelids fluttered, then she groaned.  
"What's happening?" Tomoyo whispered.  
"We're not sure ourselves. Are you ok?" Sakura asked.  
Tomoyo nodded then struggled to her feet. When they returned to the playground, they agreed that Syaoran and Tomoyo would wait in the park while Sakura used the fly card to look for Meiling. After Sakura left, Syaoran helped Tomoyo to a bench so she could sit down. He wouldn't admit it, but he really needed to sit as well. As they waited, Syaoran filled Tomoyo in on what happened.  
"Tomoyo…do you really feel that I stole Sakura from you?" he asked.  
Tomoyo stared at her hands for a second, and then said, "Well, I did at first… but I know Sakura is and always will be my best friend and she'll never abandon me. Not only that, but I'll be happy as long as she is happy, and I know that you make her very happy Syaoran."   
Syaoran smiled at Tomoyo, and she reached over, giving him a hug.

XXXX

Sakura flew around the park twice before she decided to look elsewhere. She flew over Syaoran's house, and then she flew toward the school. It was very dark, so she used the glow card to lighten up the area. Among the little glowing spheres, she saw what looked like a person lying on the roof. She flew toward it. She landed beside the shape and to her relief, saw that it was Meiling. Sakura bent over and tried to wake her up. Meiling's eyes fluttered open. She looked at Sakura, slightly dazed, and then she sat up.  
"Sakura? What's going on?" she asked.  
Sakura explained what had happened. Meiling felt stupid for being so venerable, but Sakura said not to worry about it because she too had been easily manipulated and because of it had nearly killed Syaoran. After a brief silence, Sakura said, "Meiling, I'm sorry if you feel that I stole Syaoran from you, you're still his best friend, you know."   
Meiling giggled then hugged Sakura.  
"I'm not mad… I mean I was upset when I first found out that he loved you, but I don't feel that you 'stole' him from me. I'm glad that the two of you got together. Besides, it's Syaoran's happiness that's important to me," Meiling replied.  
Sakura smiled. After a short silence, Sakura said, "We should be getting back to Syaoran and Tomoyo."   
Sakura called the float card for Meiling and pulled her along as she flew back to the park. They arrived at the playground and Tomoyo jumped up to give Meiling a hug. Syaoran stood and said, "You ok?"  
Meiling nodded. He didn't show the slightest bit of emotion, but all three girls knew he was relieved to see Meiling was ok. Sakura, Meiling, and Syaoran walked Tomoyo home first, and then they walked to Sakura's house. Sakura gave them both a big hug, then said goodnight.


	8. Wood Trap

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Wood Trap

Once again, Sakura saw a blinding flash of light. She thought it was the card, but she was wrong. What she saw made her collapse. Blood sprayed across her face as her scream echoed throughout the darkness. An evil laugh overpowered Sakura's scream. Suddenly, everything swirled into nothingness.

Sakura awoke with a start. She was twisted up in her blankets and felt terrified. She sat up and looked around her room. She could hear Kero still snoring away. 'It's just a dream,' she told herself. 'I just wish I knew what to do…" Suddenly, Sakura felt a strangely familiar presence in her room. She untangled herself from her bed and walked over to her desk. She opened the drawer that contained book and cards. A strange light surrounded the book. She lifted it from the drawer, and then slowly opened it. The cards shot out of the book and started to circle around her. They spun faster and faster until they appeared to be nothing more than a blur of light. Sakura was swallowed up into the light emanating from the cards. A card appeared in front of her. It looked exactly like a star card, but it had no name. The picture on the card was that of a woman in long robes and elaborate headdress holding a star between her hands. Sakura reached out and took the card. As soon as she touched it, the light disappeared and the cards returned to the book. Sakura examined the new card. It was still nameless. She opened the drawer that Kero slept in.  
"Kero! Wake up!"  
He groaned and opened his eyes.  
"What do you want?" he mumbled.  
"Look." She showed him the strange new card. Kero looked at it for a minute, and then asked, "What is it?"  
"I don't know! I had hoped you would know what it was," Sakura replied.  
She explained what happened, but Kero still had no idea what the card was.  
"I'm guessing it's a gift of some kind. The cards sensed that you needed help, so they are trying to do so," Kero said.  
"They can do that?"  
"If they need to. They obviously felt you were in trouble and they needed to help you. I'm sure you'll know what to do with it when the time comes."

XXXX

Sakura and Syaoran sat on a porch swing in Syaoran's back yard. Sakura had just finished telling Syaoran and Meiling about the mysterious new card. Meiling said that she had no idea then left to go help Wei with lunch.  
"What do you think?" Sakura asked Syaoran.  
"I don't know… I can only agree with what Kero said," he replied.  
Sakura thought for a second, then said, "What about Eriol? He might know something."   
Syaoran made a face. Even after all these years, he still didn't like Eriol one bit.  
"He wont know anything either. The cards are yours now, remember? He won't know anything about the star cards," he said.  
"Maybe not, but it's worth a try."  
"Sakura, you seem to be forgetting that you are the only other person besides Clow Reid himself to use the cards, let alone transform them. Nobody knows what they are capable of now. I mean, look at what you did with the fly card. Your best chance for information would have been Kero."   
Sakura stared at the blank card.  
"I guess you're right."   
Later that evening Sakura tried calling Eriol, despite Syaoran's earlier protest, but she couldn't get a hold of him. 'Odd,' she thought, 'he's usually home around this time…' Sakura dismissed it then climbed up to her room and went to bed.

XXXX

The next day Sakura was in a panic because she realized that she started school in two days. But she seemed to be the only one stressing over it. Everyone else had other things on their minds; Kero was still trying to locate the negative energy that he was convinced to be the source of their problems, Syaoran's mind was mixed with worry for Sakura's safety and trying to seize an opportunity to give Sakura the ring, and Tomoyo had told Meiling about Syaoran's plans and they were trying to plot the perfect wedding. Sakura wanted to know why all of her friends were so distracted, but the only one who seemed to have a valid reason was Kero. She was especially suspicious of Tomoyo and Meiling because they had been spending an unusual amount of time together lately. Sakura thought it was strange and was almost worried that they were plotting something again. They hadn't spent this much time together since they tried to give Sakura opportunities to tell Syaoran her true feelings. But she just brushed it off for the moment after all; she had more important things to worry about. Sakura decided to try calling Eriol again, but he still wasn't around. She was starting to worry, so she called Tomoyo and asked her if she had heard from him lately. Tomoyo as well hadn't heard from him in a while. Tomoyo had sent him several more letters, but she was getting no reply. But Tomoyo assured Sakura that he was probably busy and if anything had happened, they would probably know. Sakura agreed, but she still worried. Kero said she was just being paranoid, then returned to playing his new video game. Sakura rolled her eyes at him, then headed downstairs. Touya and Yukito were in the kitchen eating breakfast.  
"Hey Kaiju," Touya said as she came into the kitchen.  
Sakura glared at him, then greeted Yukito.  
"How have you been Sakura? I haven't seen you in a while," Yukito said cheerfully, stuffing a mouthful of pancake into his mouth.  
"I'm all right," Sakura replied.  
She crossed the room and grabbed a few pancakes. Then she sat at the table beside Yukito.  
"What are your plans for today?" Yukito asked Sakura through another mouthful of food.  
"Uhh… I'm not sure actually… I think I may be doing something with Syaoran," she replied.  
Touya's head snapped up and he slammed his fork onto the table.  
"I don't think so!" he said through gritted teeth.  
"What! Touya… stop acting like this!" Sakura said, rising from her chair.  
Touya started to say something, but Yukito placed his hand on Touya's shoulder to stop him. Sakura sighed, and then headed toward the door.  
"I'm going to Tomoyo's," she called as she headed out the door.

XXXX

Sakura stayed at Tomoyo's house all day, and even stayed for dinner. Around 9:00, she decided she should probably go home. Tomoyo offered her a ride, but Sakura refused. Truthfully, she didn't want to go home quite yet, so she figured she would walk home and clear her head a little. She was still furious with Touya for being a jerk. Sakura headed down the road towards her house, taking a detour through the park. She stopped at the playground and sat on one of the swings, trying to piece everything together. 'Why is all of this happening? Things have been fine… and suddenly I'm in danger again. Why can't I get a break?' Sakura sighed, and then got off the swing. As she stood, something caught her eye. She turned, and saw what looked like someone walking into the woods.  
"Er… hello?" she called.  
The figure ignored her and disappeared in the trees. Sakura hesitated, and then followed whoever it was into the forest. She began walking down the trail, and then suddenly there was a rumbling behind her. She turned to see hundreds of thick vines worming their way out of the forest and covering the entrance to the trail. Sakura took a step backwards, preparing to run. She called her staff, and clutched it in both hands. All of a sudden, the vines shot toward her. Sakura screamed and began running. She tried summoning the firey card, but for every vine that was destroyed, another took its place. So Sakura summoned the dash card and ran as fast as she could. Unfortunately, the vines caught up to her. They wrapped themselves around Sakura's arms, legs and her waist, until she was unable to move. Sakura screamed again, and struggled desperately against the vines.  
"Surrender the cards…" a strange, hoarse voice said.  
Sakura looked around frantically, but didn't see anybody. "Surrender the cards and I'll let you live…" the voice said again.  
Sakura panicked and struggled harder against the vines that held her. She sobbed, and then yelled, "Never!"

XXXX

Syaoran ran down the road towards Sakura's house. He had called her house and Sakura's father had said she was at Tomoyo's, but when he called Tomoyo, She had said that Sakura left over an hour ago. Syaoran knew it didn't take that long to walk from Tomoyo's place to Sakura's, so he had bolted out his front door, determined to find her. Syaoran was panicking; afraid that something horrible had happened to Sakura. As he ran past the park, he heard a faint scream.  
"Shit!" Syaoran said, heading in the direction of the scream.  
He arrived at a trail, but to his astonishment it was completely covered by vines. Syaoran swore again, and then headed into forest beside the trial. There was no way in; as far as he could see the thick vines surrounded the whole trail. Syaoran heard another scream, closer this time, and sped up, running through the forest.

XXXX

Sakura sobbed again, and struggled uselessly against the vines. Suddenly, a shadow appeared in front of her. It raised its hand, and a large, long vine formed in mid-air. Sakura gasped. She knew what was intended. She thrashed against the vines, her attempts at freedom still futile. A low, rumbling laugh filled the starry night air. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut.  
"STOP!" a familiar voice yelled.  
Sakura opened her eyes to see Syaoran leap off the wall of vines. He landed directly in front of Sakura, standing between her and the shadow. He stood with his arms outstretched, protecting Sakura from harm. The laughter deepened, and then the shadow launched the wooden projectile at Syaoran.  
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Sakura screamed, tears streaming down her face.  
Syaoran took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, but before the weapon hit him, there was a loud cracking sound. Syaoran opened his eyes and saw Yue landing gracefully in front of him. He had destroyed the wooden weapon with an arrow and it now lay in pieces on the ground. Yue shot another arrow toward the shadow, and it disappeared in a burst of light. Syaoran fell to his knees and closed his eyes. The vines began disappearing, and Sakura fell to the ground sobbing. She crawled over to Syaoran and wrapped her arms around him.  
"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Sakura whispered in his hear.  
Syaoran couldn't see her face, but he knew she was crying. He reached up and touched her arm.  
"I can't promise anything…" he said.  
Yue cleared his throat, then said, "If you're done… Sakura should be getting home."   
Sakura and Syaoran stood, and they both thanked him.  
"How did you find us?" Sakura asked.  
"Yukito was concerned about you, so he said he was going home. Then I heard you scream and I flew here," Yue replied.  
Sakura sighed, and then said, "We're lucky you did… thank you so much Yue."   
Yue nodded, then headed past them down the trail. Sakura and Syaoran followed. When they reached Sakura's street, Yue stopped.  
"I trust you will be fine from here," he said.  
Sakura nodded. Yue looked to Syaoran, he nodded as well. They said goodbye to Yue, and watched him take off down the street. When he disappeared, Sakura turned to Syaoran and said, "I can't believe you did that… you could have been killed!"   
Syaoran stared at the ground. "I'd rather be killed than let you get hurt…" he said.  
Sakura shook her head, and then wrapped her arms around Syaoran.  
"We're not going to agree on this, are we?" she said, with a slight laugh.  
Syaoran smirked, then he said, "you should get home… your dad is probably worrying about you."   
Sakura nodded.  
"Yea, you're right. Um… I guess I'll see you on Monday then…" she said, giving Syaoran a small smile.  
He nodded and returned her smile.  
"See you Monday."

A/N: you were waiting for them to kiss, weren't you? BWAHAHA!


	9. New Suspects

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

New suspects

Monday had finally arrived and school was starting again. 12th grade. Sakura was so freaked out; she actually managed to get up early. She thundered down the stairs and into the kitchen."Dad! Have you seen my school shoes? I thought they were n my room…" she said frantically.  
Her dad laughed and said, "They're by the door."  
Sakura thanked him and gobbled down some breakfast, and then hurried over to the door. She stuffed her shoes into her bag, and then searched for her rollerblades.  
"Gah! Why didn't I do this last night!" Sakura yelled to herself.  
Her father chuckled and handed Sakura her rollerblades, which were beside the stairs. She thanked him again and stuffed her feet into her rollerblades.  
"I'll see you after school!" she called, as she zoomed out onto the road.  
Her dad just chuckled and waved. When Sakura arrived at school, she met up with Tomoyo near the gate. Soon after, Meiling and Syaoran joined them. The four of them entered the school and headed to their lockers.  
"Ah… I can't wait to start classes!" Tomoyo said happily.  
"Are you crazy? I can't wait 'till our next break!" Meiling said, stuffing her bag in her locker.  
Just then, Chiharu, Rikka, Naoko, and Takashi walked up and greeted them.  
"Aren't you excited? This is so cool! I can't believe we're in grade 12!" Naoko said.  
"You know, school was only supposed to go to 11th grade, but the parents argued that…" Takashi started.  
Chiharu cut him off by saying, "Don't start another stupid story."   
Everyone laughed as they headed off toward their class. They entered the classroom and found their seats. Kyra was already in her desk, and she greeted them loudly as they entered. Soon, their teacher entered and their class began.  
"Ohayo gozaimasu class, and welcome. I am Yamahari sensei. I look forward to a wonderful year. Now, before I continue with the role call, I would like to introduce three new exchange students. First, Sebastian Asbury, who is joining us from England, second, Cyre Remmus, who is from America, and finally, Darrien Kitukuchi, who is from Tokyo. Please make them feel welcome."  
The teacher said, pointing out the new students as he introduced them. Two of the new students were seated on both sides of Syaoran. He knew immediately that he didn't like either of them. The third, Darrien, was seated in front of Meiling, who was sitting in front of Cyre. He had a strange energy, and Syaoran knew he wouldn't like him either. Yamahari sensei later announced that they would be taking a trip to a nearby lake that weekend for a nature study, which made the whole class buzz in excitement. School had just started and they already had a trip! It was definitely something for them all to look forward to.  
Lunch came rather quickly that day, and Sakura, Syaoran, Meiling, and Tomoyo headed outside and sat under a huge tree. Soon, Kyra bounded up to them happily. It seemed that she had rounded up the new students and was introducing them to everyone.  
"Hi guys!" Kyra said cheerfully.  
They greeted her as she began to introduce everyone. She pointed to the girl, Cyre, who was a tall, thin blonde with crystal blue eyes. Cyre smiled shyly.  
"Cyre is from California! Isn't that cool?" Kyra said enthusiastically.  
Sakura smiled. "California? It's always hot there, right? Is it nice?" she asked.  
Cyre gave Sakura a cold look. It appeared that she didn't like Sakura.  
"Uh, yea," Cyre replied.  
Sakura gave Tomoyo a puzzled look, then shrugged. Kyra then pointed to a tall guy with reddish blonde hair, green eyes and many freckles. He was really good looking, but appeared to be rather shy.  
"This is Sebastian! He comes from London, in England!" Kyra explained.  
Sebastian blushed then said hello in a thick British accent. All the girls adored his accent and kept asking him to say "British" things. Finally, Kyra gave him a break and introduced Darrien. He was short and very thin, and he had dark hair and eyes. He was wearing thin-rimmed glasses and he looked very intelligent.  
"Darrien is from Tokyo! His family moved here a few months ago and he transferred to our school," Kyra said.  
They were all a little happier with Darrien, because he already spoke fluent Japanese and they didn't have to try and decipher an unusual accent. He was much easier to talk to than Cyre or Sebastian. The new students and Kyra ended up spending all of lunch with them, and Syaoran noticed that Sebastian kept staring at Sakura. He didn't like that at all. Sakura on the other hand, didn't even notice. But it was really bothering Syaoran. All through the day he would catch Sebastian staring at Sakura, who sat in front of Syaoran. So he spent the whole day glaring at Sebastian. After school, Sebastian pulled Syaoran aside and asked him why he was being glared at.  
"Do you not like me?" Sebastian asked.  
"That depends," Syaoran replied.  
"On what?"   
Just then, Sakura walked up and told Syaoran that she would wait outside for him, then she smiled at Sebastian and said goodbye. They both watched her leave, then Sebastian sighed.  
"Wow… she is… really beautiful…" he said.  
Syaoran shot him a dirty look.  
"You two are friends, right? Um… do you know if she's… well… seeing anybody?" Sebastian asked, blushing.  
Syaoran shot him another dirty look, then said, "Yea… me."   
Sebastian blushed again.  
"Uh, I'm sorry… I didn't realize…"   
But Syaoran cut him off and said, "Stay away from her." Sebastian narrowed his eyes.  
"Wow, you're a real jerk," he said.  
"I don't care. Just keep away from Sakura," Syaoran replied.  
Sebastian gave Syaoran a mean look, and then stormed off.  
'Well, if he's going to be an ass, I have no reason to like him,' Sebastian thought as he stalked off.  
Syaoran watched him leave, and then headed outside to find Sakura.

XXXX

As Sakura left the building, Darrien caught up to her. Sakura greeted him.  
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Darrien asked.  
"Sure," Sakura replied.  
They walked over to a quiet area and sat on a bench.  
"What do you want to talk to me about?" Sakura asked.  
Darrien smirked, then said, "I hear you have the cards."   
Sakura nearly gasped.  
"Wha… what?" she choked.  
"You… you have the Clow cards. Can I see them?" he asked enthusiastically.  
"Um…"  
"Don't worry… your secret's safe with me."   
"Uhh…."   
Darrien laughed, and then got up.  
"I guess you're not gunna show me then. Oh well, maybe another time. See you tomorrow!" he said, and then he ran off.  
"What the?" Sakura said to herself as she watched him leave.  
Just then, Syaoran showed up. He frowned when he saw the confused look on Sakura's face.  
"What's wrong?" he asked her.  
"Uh… well, that Darrien guy… he asked me… um, well, he knows about the cards," Sakura muttered.  
"HE WHAT!" Syaoran said angrily.  
"Yea… he asked me to show him the Clow cards. It was really weird," Sakura said, crossing her arms.  
Syaoran frowned again then shook his head.  
"Then it must be him," he said.  
"Who?"   
"Darrien… he must be the person who has been attacking us."  
Sakura laughed and said, "I doubt it! If he was after my cards, do you really think he'd come out and tell me that he knows I have them?"   
"He could be trying to throw you off guard."   
"No… I don't think that's it," Sakura said, leaning back against the bench.  
"Well, if it's not him… then who else could it be?" Syaoran asked.  
"I dunno… we probably don't even know them," Sakura replied.  
"Well, that's the thing about magic users… they keep their enemies close."   
Sakura sighed and said, "Well… I don't know…"   
Syaoran thought for a minute, then said, "Well… it could be… Sebastian."   
"Sebastian! But he's so nice! Why would you suspect him?"  
"Well, he was watching you all day… he's probably trying to find a weakness or something."  
"Syaoran, you're being irrational." Syaoran sighed.  
"Well, who do you think it is then?" he asked.  
"I dunno! It could be anybody!"   
Just then, Kyra bounded up to them, followed closely by Cyre.  
"Hey guys! Are you talking about me?" she said playfully.  
Syaoran glared at her and Sakura laughed.  
"Why are your hands all bandaged up?" Cyre suddenly asked, gesturing to Syaoran's still bandaged hands.  
Syaoran raised an eyebrow at her and said, "I had an accident over Spring Break."   
"Well obviously… but what did you do?"   
"I uh…"   
"It's not important," Sakura interrupted.  
Syaoran gave her a thankful look, but Cyre glared at her.  
"I wasn't talking to you," she said to Sakura.  
Kyra, Syaoran and Sakura all stared at her. Cyre shrugged.  
"Well I wasn't."   
Cyre shrugged again, then turned and walked away. Kyra flopped onto the bench between Syaoran and Sakura and said, "She really doesn't like you." "What? Really?" Sakura said, pouting.  
"But she doesn't even know me."   
"I know! It's weird… she like, took one look at you and hated you. I don't know why. I asked her, but she won't tell me," Kyra said.  
Sakura frowned and crossed her arms.  
"Well… that's dumb," she said.  
Kyra laughed, and then said, "I gotta go. See you guys tomorrow!" Sakura waved as Kyra sprang up and skipped off towards the gates. Syaoran sighed.  
"It could be Cyre," he said.  
"Hmm? You think Cyre is attacking me?"   
"Well, it would explain why she doesn't like you even though you've never seen her before today."   
Sakura shrugged. "I dunno…"  
"Sakura… you're being too naïve…too trusting," Syaoran said.  
"And you are being too judgmental and untrusting!"   
Syaoran sighed again. He didn't want to argue, so he shook his head and said, "Look, let's just forget about this for now."   
Sakura agreed, and then got off the bench.  
"Let's go find Tomoyo," she said.  
Syaoran nodded and together they took off to find Tomoyo.

XXXX

The next day was pretty much the same. Cyre spent the whole day being mean to Sakura, Sebastian flirted with her even though Syaoran gave him death glares, and Darrien kept winking at Sakura, as if to tell her that he was still keeping her secret. By lunch, both Syaoran and Sakura were in a bad mood. Cyre had 'accidentally' flung her eraser at Sakura, hitting her in the back of the head. She claimed that it slipped, but Sakura knew better. Syaoran and Sakura wandered around the schoolyard, looking for somewhere quiet to eat. They finally found a nice spot on the grass and sat down in the warm sun. But before either of them could open their lunches, Darrien had walked up and sat down with them.  
"Hello guys. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" he asked.  
Sakura and Syaoran both stared at him. Darrien turned to Syaoran and said, "You're Syaoran Li, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you. Did you just transfer here from Hong Kong?" Syaoran stared at him in shock.  
"Uh…" he stammered.  
Darrien laughed.  
"You're both very quiet people… you know that? Anyway, I'm supposed to go find Kyra, I just thought I'd say hi. See you guys in class!" he said, getting up and taking off across the field.  
Sakura raised an eyebrow at Syaoran.  
"How… that was weird…" he said.  
"Yea, I told you," Sakura said with a sigh.  
"This is just too strange. How does he know so much about us?" she added.  
"Did you feel his energy?" Syaoran asked.  
"What energy?"   
"He's a magic user."   
Sakura's jaw dropped. Now that she thought about it, Darrien did have a strange presence. But she was only trained to recognize Clow magic, and the only other magical presence she had ever been exposed to was the person who was attacking her.  
"Wait… It's not the same energy as the person who has been attacking us though… so it can't be him," Sakura said.  
"He may be cloaking his magic," Syaoran muttered.  
"I didn't know that was possible," Sakura said, raising an eyebrow.  
Syaoran nodded. Sakura leaned back on her elbows, deep in thought. Suddenly, she heard someone call her name. She sat up and saw Sebastian waving to her as he approached. Syaoran glared at him when he walked up and sat beside Sakura.  
"How's your day going?" Sebastian asked.  
"Uh, good," Sakura replied.  
"So, um… I was wondering… I'm having a little trouble with some of my school work… and er… I was thinking maybe you could come over to my place after school sometime and help me catch up? I mean, if you're not busy and all…" Sebastian stammered, blushing.  
Syaoran nearly whipped out his sword. He wanted so bad to make Sebastian hurt. Sakura blushed and glanced at Syaoran, warning him not to do anything dumb.  
"Um, well I'm probably not the best person to help you… uh, Tomoyo is much smarter than I am… and Naoko gets really good grades… I mean I'm not very good at school…" Sakura said, laughing nervously.  
"Well, then maybe… we could hang out some time, like after school maybe?" Sebastian asked.  
Syaoran shot to his feet, his hands clenched into fists. Sebastian ignored him and stared at Sakura, waiting for her reply.  
"Uh…. Well, you see…" she started.  
"Well, I mean if you're busy, maybe another time… I'll see you later," Sebastian interrupted.  
He got up and headed away from them. Before Sakura could stop him, Syaoran had followed him.  
"Hey!" he hollered.  
Sebastian stopped and turned, and then he said, "Yes?"   
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Syaoran hissed at him.  
"What do you mean?" Sebastian replied sarcastically.  
"Sakura is MY girlfriend! Stay away from her or I'll…"   
"Or you'll what? Beat me up?" Sebastian interrupted.  
"I've dealt with wannabe thugs before; I know how to handle myself."   
"You have no idea who you're messing with," Syaoran hissed again.  
Sebastian laughed and said, "You don't scare me."   
Syaoran took a step forward ready to punch Sebastian.  
"Syaoran, stop!" Sakura called, running up to the two of them.  
He hesitated, and then took a step back from Sebastian, glaring at him. Sebastian gave Syaoran a smug smirk as Sakura approached them. She placed her hand on Syaoran's shoulder and said, "Let's go."   
Syaoran gave Sebastian another glare, then turned and walked away with Sakura. When they were out of earshot, Sakura turned to him and said, "What do you think you're doing?"   
"What? He did that deliberately to piss me off!"  
"Syaoran! You're overreacting! Besides, I can deal with it myself!"  
Syaoran frowned at her, and Sakura crossed her arms sternly. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and then Sakura laughed.  
"Look… let's just forget it. Just… control your temper a little better… ok?" she asked.  
Syaoran smiled and nodded.  
"Sooo, are you going to come by my house on Friday morning before the trip?" Sakura asked.  
"Sure, if you want me to," Syaoran replied.  
"All right then! You can carry my stuff!" Sakura said jokingly.  
Syaoran smirked and shook his head. "Whatever you say."

A/N: lol I hope you liked this chapter. It's about time I introduced the new characters.


	10. The Lake

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

The Lake

Friday had finally arrived, and Sakura was once again running late. Syaoran would arrive at her house any minute, and she wanted to make sure she got to the door first. Because their father had gone to work early Touya was there to make sure Sakura didn't sleep in, and Sakura didn't want another argument between the two of them. After Sakura got all her stuff together, she ran down the stairs and grabbed some toast. Touya was sitting at the table reading a newspaper.  
"Hey Kaiju," he muttered.  
Sakura threw a piece of toast at him and said, "Don't call me that!"   
Touya smirked. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Touya stood to answer it, but Sakura raced passed him.  
"I'll get it!" she called.  
But Touya followed her anyways. Sakura flung the door open and greeted Syaoran, who received a cold glare from Touya.  
"What are you doing here?" he asked bitterly. Sakura closed the door behind Syaoran and gave Touya a warning look.  
"We're walking to school together… calm down!" Sakura hissed at him.  
Touya shook his head in anger and said, "I can't believe that dad is letting you go on a trip with that little brat!"  
Syaoran squeezed his hands into fists.  
"Sakura, you're not going up to some cabin in the woods with this little prick!" Touya yelled.  
"THAT'S IT!" Syaoran screamed. "I've put up with so much shit from you, but not anymore! I've had it!"  
"Listen you little punk! I've had enough of you filling Sakura's head with lies! You're a no good, self-centered, punk-ass little…" Touya started.  
But Syaoran cut him off by leaping toward Touya and punching him in the face. He stumbled backward in shock.  
"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled, trying to calm him.  
But Touya had recovered from his shock and had moved to retaliate. Syaoran dodged him and pushed Touya backwards. He stumbled into the kitchen and smacked into the table. Touya came toward him again and managed to punch Syaoran in the face. He was stunned for a moment, and then he leaped at Touya, slamming him against the wall.  
"Stop it! Both of you!" Sakura yelled desperately.  
Touya ignored her and grabbed the front of Syaoran's shirt. He then spun him around and pressed him against the wall. He brought his arm back, preparing to hit Syaoran again, but Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him off of Syaoran. She moved between them.  
"I said stop!" Sakura screamed, tears of frustration running down her face.  
She had one hand against Syaoran's chest, pressing him against the wall, and the other was still grasping Touya's wrist. She could feel Syaoran breathing heavily. They were still glaring daggers at each other.  
"Touya, why do you have to be such a jerk! You have no idea what you're talking about!" Sakura yelled at him.  
Touya just stared at her. Sakura let him go and grabbed Syaoran's hand, and then pulled him toward the door. They gathered up their stuff and left the house, Sakura slamming the door behind them.

XXXX

Tomoyo and Meiling greeted Sakura and Syaoran with frowns.  
"What happened?" Tomoyo asked.  
"I don't want to talk about it right now," Sakura said with a sigh.  
Tomoyo and Meiling exchanged worried glances, but shrugged it off for the time being. The four of them headed toward the bus and filed in one by one. Sakura sat beside Tomoyo with her arms crossed, staring out the window for nearly the entire trip. Syaoran and Meiling sat behind them, and he spent the whole trip with his head leaned back against the seat and his eyes closed, deep in thought. Three hours later, they arrived at the cabin, which was located by a lake and surrounded by grassy fields and wooded trails. They could see a court with a net for tennis and volleyball, as well as a soccer field and a basketball court. There were also stables, which they assumed contained horses. There was a murmur of excitement as they pulled up to the main cabin. Even Sakura and Syaoran, who were in gloomy moods, seemed to perk up when they saw the rolling green fields and the crystal blue lake. The cabin itself was large, and four stories high. It looked more like a large, wooden hotel than a log cabin.  
The students squeezed their way out of the bus and flocked towards the cabin. Yamahari sensei called for them to gather near the bus. As they did, Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's shoulder and said, "Hey, isn't that Kyra's sister?"  
Sakura, Syaoran and Meiling turned and saw Arya shooing students towards the bus.  
"Is she the girl's chaperone? I didn't realize she was that old…" Sakura said.  
Suddenly, Chiharu piped up from behind them.  
"Kyra lives with her sister. They moved here together last year… I don't know where their parents are though… Kyra wouldn't tell me." Chiharu said.  
"Wow, you know everything about everyone, don't you?" Meiling said, laughing.  
Chiharu shrugged and laughed, and then said, "Not really EVERYTHING…"   
They all laughed as Yamahari sensei tried to silence everyone.  
"I want you all to pair up and pick a room. Girls are on the first floor, and the boys are on the second. Please put your things away and assemble in the cafeteria for a quick lunch," Yamahari sensei said.  
The students paired up and flocked inside to find their rooms. Sakura and Tomoyo were sharing a room, and Meiling had paired with Chiharu, leaving Naoko and Rika to share a room. Syaoran had asked Takashi to pair up immediately, to avoid being stuck with Darrien. Luckily, Darrien ended up sharing a room with Sebastian. After everyone put their stuff away, they all piled into the cafeteria. After they had a quick lunch, Yamahari sensei announced that they would be starting their nature study. They were to spit into three groups and take assigned trails through the woods. Each group had to identify 6 examples of animals, plants, and fungi, then sketch them in their notebooks and write a detailed description. Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Meiling, Chiharu, Takashi, Rika and Naoko were all in one group. They headed up the trail and began looking.  
"This is stupid…" Meiling complained.  
"Come on Meiling… we'll get it all done now, and then we have free time until dinner!" Chiharu said.  
"You guys! We have to put some effort into this!" Naoko scolded.  
"But it's dumb! It's like, so 5th grade!" Rika said.  
Sakura laughed and said, "Let's just get it done."   
They all agreed, and started searching.

XXXX

The next day, they had free time until lunch, and then they had another assignment. Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling dragged Syaoran down to the lake to go swimming. When they got there, the saw that nearly their entire class had the same idea. Meiling ran down the dock and dove off the end, followed closely by Kyra, who had been waiting for them. Tomoyo spread her towel out beside Rika, Chiharu, and Naoko and they sat there giggling. Syaoran and Takashi stood by the water talking, and Sakura walked down the dock, laughing at Meiling and Kyra. "Hey guys! Wait for me!" Sakura called, as they swam away from the dock.  
Just as she was about to dive into the water, Sebastian approached her. He was blushing.  
"Um… hey… it's uh, a nice day today, isn't it?" he stammered.  
Sakura raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Uh, yea it is."   
"Are you going swimming?" Sebastian asked.  
"Well… yes." "I see… um… you… uh, look nice…" Sakura laughed.  
"I'm wearing a bathing suit!" she said.  
"Uh, well, I know…"   
Sakura frowned at him, then said, "Look Sebastian…"   
"I uh, gotta go. I'll talk to you later, ok?" Sebastian interrupted.  
Before Sakura could reply, he had walked off in the opposite direction. Sakura shook her head, and then dove into the water with Meiling and Kyra. That evening after dinner, the whole class went outside and had a bonfire. Much to Sakura's dismay, Naoko and Kyra thought it would be a good idea to tell ghost stories. She spent the entire evening clutching Syaoran's sleeve and jumping at every noise. She was relieved when the class was finally sent up to bed. She said goodnight to her friends, and then she and Tomoyo crawled into their beds. Tomoyo drifted off to sleep quickly, but Sakura was still freaked out after all the ghost stories, and found herself lying awake with the blankets pulled up to her nose. Sakura decided that the only way she'd get to sleep was to clear her head, so she got up, put on her housecoat and slippers, and then snuck outside. She headed down the dock and stood at the end, staring out of the lake. It was a clear night, and the lake was reflecting the round moon and the twinkling stars. Sakura sighed. It was really peaceful. Meanwhile, Syaoran couldn't sleep either. He hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Sakura alone since he had fought with Touya, and he was afraid that she was angry. He got out of bed and slipped on his shoes. He needed to clear his head, so he snuck down the stairs and out the door. As he approached the dock, he saw someone already standing at the end. As he got closer, he realized it was Sakura. He walked up and stood beside her, staring out at the lake.  
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked without turning.  
"Yea," Syaoran replied.  
They stood in silence for another moment, and then Syaoran said, "Are you angry?"  
Sakura turned and raised an eyebrow at him.  
"About what?" she asked   
"About… the other day…"   
Sakura turned back to the water. After a moment, she said, "Well, I think I'm more angry at Touya… I know you have tried really hard to put up with him, and I appriciate that… and he doesn't have to keep provoking you like he does."   
"So you're not mad at me then?"   
"No."   
Syaoran smiled.  
"It's a beautiful night," Sakura said.  
"Yea it is," Syaoran replied.  
He turned to Sakura and took a deep breath.  
"Uh, Sakura?" he whispered.  
"Mmhmm?"  
"Um, I was thinking…"   
Sakura stared at him as he trailed off. She gave him a questioning look. Suddenly, she felt something slither past her leg. She jumped, and turned to look. She saw what appeared to be a ribbon of water coming straight out of the lake. It wrapped itself around Sakura's waist before she could move. It pulled her over the dock and she screamed as she hit the water with a splash.  
"SAKURA!" Syaoran yelled.  
He drew his sword and dove in the water after Sakura. Whatever had taken her was pulling her down quickly. Syaoran swam as fast as he could, and finally he caught up with her. She was unconscious. Syaoran hacked at the thing pulling her down. He was running out of breath, but he wouldn't leave Sakura. He kept hacking at the thing that held her, but it kept re-forming. He cast a water spell, and it caused the water to break up, freeing Sakura. Syaoran grabbed her around the waist and swam furiously toward the surface. When he surfaced, he swam toward the dock, but found it difficult to lift Sakura up. Suddenly, someone reached over the dock and helped pull Sakura up. When Syaoran scrambled out of the water, he saw that it was Yamahari sensei. Sakura coughed, then spit up water. Her eyes opened, and Syaoran sighed in relief. Yamahari sensei lifted her up and told Syaoran to come inside. They went into the cabin and Yamahari sensei put Sakura in a chair by the fireplace. Syaoran could see curious students peering out of their rooms and hiding on the stairs. Tomoyo rushed forward to Sakura's side.   
"All of you! Get back to your rooms!" Yamahari sensei said.  
The students scattered and returned to their rooms. Tomoyo clung to Sakura's arm.  
"Sensei, she's my best friend…" Tomoyo whimpered.  
"Fine, you can stay." Yamahari sensei said.  
He then turned to Syaoran and asked, "What happened?"   
"Um, she slipped and fell in the water," Syaoran lied.  
Yamahari sensei turned to Sakura, who nodded.  
"I was just clumsy," Sakura added.  
"Well, what were you doing out there in the first place?"  
"Neither of us could sleep… we ran into each other outside," Sakura explained.  
Yamahari sensei sighed, and then said, "Well, if you're ok, then you should get yourself into dry clothes."   
Sakura nodded. Tomoyo helped her stand, and then they all headed towards their rooms. Sakura and Tomoyo said goodnight to Syaoran, then headed into their room. Syaoran headed up the stairs, followed closely by Yamahari sensei, and then he entered his room. Takashi was sitting on his bed waiting for him.  
"What the heck happened out there?" he asked.  
Syaoran shook his head. "Nothing…" he replied.  
"Yea right."  
"I'm sure you'll find out tomorrow anyway… I just want to get to bed," Syaoran muttered.  
"Is something bothering you?" Takashi asked.  
"No."   
"Liar. Something is bugging you, I can tell."  
"It's nothing, so never mind."   
"Aha! So you admit that something IS bothering you!" Takashi said, waving his finger in the air.  
Syaoran shook his head and grabbed his bag.  
"Are you fighting with Sakura?" Takashi persisted.  
"No! Now leave me alone!"  
"Well, does it involve Sakura at least? I bet it does. Relationship problems are the worst."  
"It's nothing!" Syaoran hissed, tugging at a clean shirt that was stuck in his bag.  
"I don't believe you. You're lying."  
"Will… you…drop… it?" Syaoran said angrily, still tugging on his shirt.Suddenly, his shirt was flung loose, causing the contents of Syaoran's bag to go flying onto the floor.  
"Shit!" he muttered, bending to pick up his clothes.  
Takashi hopped off his bed to help. He crawled along the floor, reaching under his bed to search for Syaoran's clothing, when suddenly his hand hit a small, hard object. He pulled it out and saw that it was a ring box.  
"What's this?" he asked.  
Syaoran turned and blushed when he saw what Takashi was holding. Syaoran snatched it away from him and stuffed it back in his bag. Takashi gave him a questioning look, then said, "That was a ring box. Is that… well, you know… an engagement ring? That's what's bothering you, isn't it?"   
Syaoran sighed then nodded.  
"But you can't tell ANYONE, do you understand? Not even Chiharu," he said.  
"Yea yea, of course. It's our secret."  
Syaoran rolled his eyes as he changed onto dry pajamas. Takashi crawled back into his bed.  
"So, when you gunna do it?" he asked.  
Syaoran sighed and said, "Don't even talk about it, kay?"  
Takashi laughed, then said, "Yea yea… goodnight."

XXXX

The next morning, rumors were flying around about the events the previous night. Sakura just ignored everyone though; she was a bad liar and didn't want to mess up. Everyone soon forgot about it all though, because they were told that they had a free day. They were allowed to do anything they wanted, as long as they were ready to leave by 3:00.  
"So what do you guys want to do today?" Meiling asked at breakfast. "Well, I'm staying away from the lake…" Sakura said, giggling.  
"I dunno… I just want to relax today," Tomoyo said.  
"That sounds like a good idea," Syaoran agreed.  
"Well, we can't just sit around for seven hours…" Meiling complained.  
Suddenly, Tomoyo smirked. "We should go horseback riding," she said.  
"Hey, that sounds fun!" Sakura exclaimed.  
"Ooh, that does sound like a good idea!" Meiling agreed.  
So after breakfast, the four of them headed out to the stables. They had horses saddled up for them, and then they took off down one of the trails. Eventually, they came to fork in the path.  
"Which trail should we take?" Sakura asked, stopping before the split.  
Tomoyo and Meiling gave each other a sly look, then Meiling said, "Well, why don't you and Syaoran take one path, and Tomoyo and I will take the other… and we'll see where they go!"   
Syaoran caught on to their little scheme and narrowed his eyes at them. Meiling shrugged and smiled.  
"Come on Tomoyo, let's go!" Meiling said, winking at Syaoran.  
They both took off down the right path before anyone else could say anything. Sakura looked at Syaoran with a raised eyebrow.  
"Um, that was strange…" she said.  
"Yea," Syaoran replied.  
The two of them headed down the left trail in silence. They wandered on quietly for about ten minutes, when Sakura suddenly said, "Syaoran?"   
"Yea?"   
"Um, I just wanted to thank you for saving me… again..."   
Syaoran smirked and said, "Well… I could… never live with myself if I let something happen to you…" Sakura smiled.  
"How do you always know what to say?" she said, giggling.  
Syaoran blushed and smiled.  
"You know… I hate to bring it up… but… I dunno, what do you think we should do about Touya?" Sakura asked timidly.  
Syaoran sighed and shrugged.  
"I dunno… I don't think there's anything we can do…" he said.  
"Well… I don't want this to get any worse…"  
Syaoran sighed again and said, "I know."   
The two of them rode along in silence for a while, and then Syaoran suddenly spoke up.  
"Uh… I know this may not be the um… the perfect time for this… but I uh, was thinking…"   
Before Syaoran could finish, Kyra came galloping toward them from further up the path. She was clutching the reins and as she zoomed past she called out for help. Syaoran and Sakura looked at each other, then turned their horses and chased after her. They caught up easily, and Sakura reached over and grabbed the runaway horse's reins. She managed to calm the horse and it slowed down, and then stopped. Kyra, nearly in tears, climbed off her horse and flopped onto the ground.  
"Thank you so much! I thought I was gunna die or something!" she exclaimed.  
Sakura dismounted and helped Kyra up.  
"Are you ok?" Sakura asked.  
"Yea… I am now… maybe I should have taken the lessons…" Kyra replied.  
Sakura laughed, and then said, "Come on, let's bring you back to the cabin."   
She helped Kyra back onto her horse, and then re-mounted hers. Sakura grabbed the reins of Kyra's horse and slowly the three of them made their way back to the stables. When they got back, they found Tomoyo and Meiling lounging outside the stables. After the horses were returned, Sakura started to question Tomoyo.  
"What are you doing back here?" Sakura asked.  
Tomoyo shrugged and said, "We got bored…"  
Sakura gave her a suspicious look, and Tomoyo gave her a smile.  
"Oookay then…" Sakura muttered.  
"Hey, it's almost noon… why don't we go get lunch?" Meiling suggested.  
They all agreed, and headed back up to the cabin. After lunch, they all returned to their rooms and packed up their stuff. When 3:00 rolled around, all the students piled into the bus. Tomoyo and Meiling sat behind Sakura and Syaoran, and they giggled and whispered the whole trip. Sakura fell asleep on Syaoran's shoulder half way, and he didn't want to wake her, so he sat in his seat blushing while Tomoyo and Meiling giggled and said, "Awwwww…."  
When Sakura finally arrived home her father greeted her. He didn't mention Touya at all, so she figured that he hadn't said anything about his fight with Syaoran. This relieved Sakura, because she really didn't want to talk about it. Plus she was exhausted, so as soon as she finished dinner she climbed up to her room, greeted Kero, and went to bed.


	11. The Ghost

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

The Ghost

The next day, Sakura woke up late once again. Her father had come into her room and woken her up, and she ended up running around the house getting ready. When she was finally ready to leave, She zoomed down the road towards the school. When she arrived, she ran down the clearing hallways and managed to make it to her class just in time. Syaoran raised an eyebrow as she took her seat in front of him."Slept in again?" he asked.  
Sakura giggled and said, "Oops."   
Syaoran smirked as the class started. It was as boring as every other class seemed to be. Sebastian was still staring dreamily at Sakura the whole class, causing Syaoran to shoot him dirty looks, and Cyre 'accidentally' knocked Sakura's books off her desk on her way to the bathroom. She couldn't have been happier when the day was finally over. Tomoyo, Meiling, Syaoran and Sakura decided to stay at the school for a while and do some studying, because they had a test the following week. They stayed in the library until well after dinner, and finally they decided to go home. Syaoran insisted on walking Sakura home, and Meiling offered to walk with Tomoyo, just in case. It was already dark outside when Sakura and Syaoran headed down the street, but the streetlights hadn't come on yet. A crisp wind blew, scattering Cherry blossom petals into the air.  
"This is going to be a long week…" Sakura sighed.  
"Yea…" Syaoran agreed.  
"Do you think the test will be hard?" Sakura asked.  
"I dunno… It might be. This is the first one, so we have no way of knowing how hard the tests are going to be."   
"Well, that's true… I hope it's not too hard… I really don't want to fail." Syaoran smiled at her and shook his head. "You won't fail," he said.  
"How do you know?"   
"Because you're smart, Sakura. I know you'll be fine."  
Sakura smiled despite herself and said, "Thanks."   
The wind picked up suddenly, causing Sakura to shiver.  
"Wow… it's unusually cold, isn't it?" Sakura said, rubbing her upper arms.  
Syaoran took off his jacket and draped it over Sakura's shoulders. She smiled and thanked him. Syaoran blushed and moved to take her hand, but before he could the wind picked up again, even stronger than before. It caught the sleeves of Syaoran's jacket and blew it right off of Sakura's shoulders. Syaoran stopped and looked around, but he didn't see anything unusual.  
"This isn't good…" he said.  
Sakura summoned her staff and looked around cautiously. Abruptly, the wind got stronger, and the two of them were flung backwards into a brick wall. They were both pinned by an invisible force, and neither of them could move. Out of the wind, a ghostly figure appeared. Sakura screamed, and began to whimper.  
"Sakura! Calm down!" Syaoran called to her over the wind.  
Suddenly, the wind died down, but the two of them were still pinned to the wall. The ghostly figure came closer, making Sakura whimper again. Then it spoke, in a raspy, female voice.  
"Give me the cards…" it said.  
"No way!" Sakura said, struggling to get loose.  
The figure lashed out a snake-like branch of wind and struck Sakura across the face, causing her to cry out in pain.  
"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled. "Don't hurt her!"  
The figure laughed and said, "Give me the cards."   
"Never…" Sakura said, tears in her eyes.  
The figure lashed out again, hitting Sakura in the stomach. She cried out again, causing Syaoran to scream out in frustration and worry. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for another hit.  
"You will not surrender the cards?" the figure asked.  
Sakura shook her head, then replied, "I'll never give them to you…"   
The figure stopped, and then said, "Fine. You will not be swayed by pain…" It turned to Syaoran and added, "But how about the pain of others?" Sakura gasped.  
"No! Don't hurt him!"  
Syaoran braced himself, but the figure's strike caught him off guard. It hit him in the chest, and he just barely suppressed a cry of pain. Sakura sobbed and begged the figure to stop, but it lashed out again, striking Syaoran viciously in the face, and he let out a small grunt of pain. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Sakura knew he was trying to suppress tears.  
"Don't give in Sakura…" Syaoran mumbled.  
The figure hit him in the chest, which made a loud crack. Syaoran tried to suppress his cry of pain again, but the pain was too intense and he let out a small moan. It was if every hit magically magnified the pain to levels he had never felt before. Now to top it off, he had a sharp, stabbing pain in his side. "Stop… please stop…" Sakura begged, still sobbing.  
The figure cackled evilly, and then said, "Maybe I'll break a few bones… will that alter your decision?"   
Sakura sobbed and shook her head.  
"I… I can't…" Sakura stuttered.  
"And if I kill him?"   
Sakura shook her head.  
"Please… leave him alone…"   
"Will you give me the cards?"  
Sakura hesitated.  
"I…"   
Before she could answer, the figure screamed, and exploded in a cloud of mist. Sakura fell to the ground, and looked over to Syaoran, who fell to the ground with a thud. He clutched his side and leaned back against the wall. Sakura crawled over to him and touched his hand lightly.  
"Are you ok?" she whimpered.  
Syaoran nodded, although he had a look of pain on his face.  
"What happened?" Syaoran said with a small grunt of pain.  
"I… don't know…" Sakura replied, looking around them. They both heard footsteps approaching, and despite his pain, Syaoran drew his sword and stood. Sakura stood beside him, her staff at the ready. The person came around the corner, and when Sakura saw who it was, she let out a sigh of relief.  
"Eriol! What are you doing here?" Sakura said, relaxing.  
"I'm here to help," he replied, walking over to Syaoran.  
"You don't look so good," he added.  
"I'm fine…" Syaoran muttered.  
Eriol placed his hand on Syaoran's side, causing him to wince.  
"Hmm… It's your rib, isn't it? Well, it's not broken, but it could be fractured… so take it easy," he said.  
Syaoran just grunted his response and pulled away from Eriol, who smirked.  
"It appears that I got here just in time," Eriol said, turning to Sakura.  
"Uh… yea… I guess you did," Sakura replied.  
Eriol smirked.  
"Why don't the two of you go home and get some rest, and we'll meet up tomorrow?" he asked.  
Sakura and Syaoran agreed, and they headed off towards Sakura's place. After she was safely inside, Eriol and Syaoran walked off towards Syaoran's place.  
"You know… I'll be fine alone…" Syaoran muttered.  
Eriol chuckled.  
"Of course you will," he said.  
Syaoran gave him a dirty look, and kept walking.  
"So, I hear that you're going to propose to Sakura," Eriol said slyly.  
Sayoran stopped and stared at Eriol.  
"Who told you that?" he asked.  
Eriol chuckled again and said, "Tomoyo told me."  
Syaoran sighed, and then continued walking. Eriol smirked and followed him. When they reached Syaoran's place, Eriol greeted Wei, and then turned to leave.  
"See you tomorrow!" Eriol called.  
"Yea yea…"

XXXX

The next afternoon, Sakura and Syaoran sat under a tree waiting for Eriol. Tomoyo and Meiling both wanted to join them, but Tomoyo had a film project to edit and Meiling and tons of homework to catch up on. It was for the best though; both Sakura and Syaoran wanted them as uninvolved as possible. School had only been out for about ten minutes, but the school grounds were already empty. Syaoran sat on the grass against a tree, and Sakura sat beside him. She hadn't wanted Syaoran to come to school that day, but he insisted that he was fine. After sitting in silence for a while, Sakura sighed and said, "He's late… I hope he shows up soon…" "Yea…" Syaoran muttered.  
"Syaoran? Are you ok?"  
"Hmm? Yea… I was just thinking…"   
"About what?"   
"Well… you know last night… would you have given away the cards before… before that thing killed me?" Syaoran asked, picking at the grass.  
"I… I don't know… I didn't know what to do," Sakura mumbled.  
Syaoran sighed and took Sakura's hand.  
"Don't ever give up your cards…"   
"But… I… I can't lose the people I love…"   
Syaoran sighed again.  
"I know…" he murmured.Just then, Eriol appeared. He walked up to then, smiling.  
"Hey guys. How are you feeling today Syaoran?" he asked.  
"Fine," Syaoran replied bitterly.  
Sakura smirked and shook her head.  
"So, what's up Eriol?" she asked.  
Eriol sat down and got comfortable.  
"Well, we've got a lot to talk about," he said.  
"Yea, no kidding," Syaoran muttered.  
Eriol and Sakura both raised their eyebrows at him, and Syaoran frowned.  
"Anyway, I came because your recent letters were quite disturbing, so I decided to come and investigate," Eriol said.  
"Well, all we know is that someone is trying to take the cards… and they'll do anything to get them, do you know anything else?" Sakura asked.  
"Well unfortunately, no. I've been looking into magical families, and if any of them have been showing signs of hostility towards the Li family, or if any of them are missing, but nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. The only thing that's happened recently is that the home of a family of magic users mysteriously went up in flames, killing everyone inside. But that's not relevant to our problems, and other than that, things aren't any different than usual," Eriol replied.  
"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked.  
"Well, I… stay in the loop… to put it lightly. There are hundreds of magical families throughout the world, and they all know what goes on, and everyone keeps in touch. It's like… a magical community."   
"They know… everything?"  
"Yes, pretty much. Of course, you are still a popular topic… everyone wants to know what you will do next Sakura. Well, both of you actually. You'd be surprised at some of the things I hear."   
Sakura pouted. "I'm a 'popular topic?' But… How come? Why don't I know about any of this?" she asked.  
Eriol chuckled.  
"That's really not the issue, is it?" he said.  
"I have a question…" Syaoran said. "You said that that you were looking for people who were hostile towards my family… why?"   
"Because people consider Sakura to be a part of the Li family… after all, she is the only person outside the Li family to wield Clow magic," Eriol explained.  
At his, both Sakura and Syaoran blushed.  
"Well… is it possible that whoever is after me is after Syaoran as well? Because he seems to be Getting hurt more often than I am…" Sakura asked.  
"Well, that could be… but it's more likely that he is getting hurt because he tries to protect you, and because of that, your attacker sees Syaoran as a way to get to you, hence the events of last night. In reality, it would be easier to obtain the cards if you were to give them up. If you die, it is likely that the cards will become disoriented and either seal themselves up again, or scatter. Either way, it would be tougher to get a hold of the cards if they were released through your death, so this person is probably trying to threaten Syaoran in an attempt to get you to give up the cards. This really is unfortunate, because I'm not sure you would let Syaoran die. I can't be certain you would choose the cards over him. Do you know what you would do Sakura?" Eriol asked.  
Sakura slowly shook her head, avoiding Eriol and Syaoran's gazes.  
"No… I'm not sure. I don't think I could make that decision… It would be like… a mother choosing one child over the other. It's an impossible choice… and I refuse to let it get that far. I will do everything in my power to make sure I don't have to make that choice."   
"Well… you'll have to remember Sakura… that whoever this is, they won't hesitate to kill you either. Your best course of action is to locate the threat… and terminate it. Meaning… you MUST find out who this person is, and do something about it," Eriol said.  
"You're not suggesting… that… I kill this person, are you?" Sakura asked.  
"It's your choice… I'm sure you'll do the right thing when the time comes. Maybe you'll think of something completely unique," Eriol replied.  
"Oh! That reminds me…" Sakura said, rooting around in her bag.  
She pulled out her cards and sorted through them, then pulled one out and handed it to Eriol. It was the blank card.  
"What's this?" Eriol asked, studying the card.  
"I'm not sure… I was hoping you could tell me something about it."   
Sakura explained how it appeared, and asked if Eriol had any suggestions.  
"Well, I honestly don't know Sakura. I only know about the Clow cards… Your Star cards are a complete mystery to me. But, I'm assuming that the cards sensed that you were in trouble and they are trying to help you. But, I have no idea what the card could be for. I'm sure you'll find out in time though. The cards work in mysterious ways…" Eriol said.  
"Expect the unexpected," Syaoran added.  
"Exactly," Eriol agreed.  
"So what now?" Syaoran asked.  
"Well, do you have any idea who it could be?"  
"Uh, we have a few suspects… well, Syaoran does anyway…" Sakura replied.  
"Oh? And why are they suspects?"  
"Well, There's Kyra… and she has this magical presence that makes me uneasy…" Syaoran started.  
"Yea, but she's my friend! I've known her for over a year… if she was the attacker, she would have acted before now," Sakura interrupted.  
Syaoran ignored her and continued.  
"There's also Cyre, she obviously hates Sakura, and we only met her when school started. Then there's Sebastian…"   
"Wait a second! Sebastian can't be the guy!" Sakura interrupted.  
"Why not?" Eriol asked.  
"Well, he uh… kind of… likes me… and it's obvious that he wouldn't be the one," she said.  
"That doesn't mean anything! He could just be covering his tracks!" Syaoran argued.  
"Guys, don't fight about it. Sakura, you shouldn't rule out anybody at this point. At least keep an open mind… and Syaoran… is it really necessary to suspect everyone who so much as looks at Sakura?" Eriol interrupted.  
They were both silent.  
"Anyway… the other guy who I think it might be is this guy named Darrien… and that's because he knows about the cards. He was fairly obvious about it too," Syaoran concluded.  
"Well, that is suspicious, but it doesn't mean that he is the guy… can you give me their full names? I'll check around… see if any of them belong to magical families and maybe I can get some information," Eriol asked.  
"Yea… sure," Sakura said, pulling out a piece of paper and writing down their names.  
Eriol took the paper and read it over.  
"Well, the only name I've heard is Darrien Kitukuchi… his family is from Tokyo I… They own a martial art and magic school similar to that of the Li family. I heard that some of them moved, but I wasn't sure where. Anyway, I'll look around a bit and see what I can come up with," he said.  
"Thanks Eriol. Hey, where are you staying? You know, in case we need to get a hold of you…" Sakura asked.  
"Well, I'm actually leaving tonight, but I'm not going back to England just yet. I'll keep in touch… and I'll be around. Don't worry," Eriol replied.  
Sakura pouted.  
"That's too bad… I was hoping you'd stay and visit. Meiling and Tomoyo will be disappointed," she said.  
"I'm sure they'll forgive me… anyway, I must be going… and I think it would be best if the two of you went home." Sakura stood, and helped Syaoran up. Then Sakura gave Eriol a hug.  
"Thanks for helping Eriol. It was nice seeing you." She said.  
"You too. I'll see you soon," Eriol replied.  
Eriol said goodbye to the two of them, then walked off. He watched them leave, and made sure they got home safely, and then he left, ready to do some research.


	12. Lost

A/N: I don't own CCS. 

Lost

Syaoran stayed home from school the following two days, but he returned on Friday, determined not to miss any more schoolwork. Sakura, Meiling, and Tomoyo insisted that he stay home and rest, but Syaoran just ignored them. At lunch, Sebastian approached Sakura and asked to talk to her, and much to Syaoran's dismay, Sakura agreed. Sakura and Sebastian walked to a quiet place on the school ground, and then sat on the grass."Thanks for coming with me," Sebastian said.  
"Well, you said you wanted to talk to me," Sakura replied.  
"Uh… yea. Well, I was wondering… I mean, I was wondering if you could help me with my Japanese…" Sebastian stammered.  
"Your Japanese? You seem to be speaking it good enough… what do you need help with?"  
"Well, It's…. you know… I'm just struggling with it. Um, I was wondering if maybe… we could study after school or something..."   
"Uh… well… I suppose…"  
Sebastian grinned and gave Sakura a quick hug.  
"Thanks so much! Um, why don't we meet up by the gate?" he asked.  
"Er… ok… sure," Sakura agreed.  
"I should find my friends… I'll… see you later," she added.  
"Ok! See you!"   
Sakura got up and uneasily walked away. When she found her friends, she saw that Syaoran was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Sakura laughed and sat down beside him.  
"What did he want?" Syaoran asked.  
"Oh… nothing really…." Sakura lied.  
She didn't want to upset Syaoran further, so she didn't mention that she was meeting Sebastian after school. Once class was out for the day, Sakura told her friends that she had to go right home to start dinner. She said goodbye and rushed out of the building. When she got to the gate, she saw Sebastian was already waiting for her.  
"Hey Sakura!" Sebastian said cheerfully.  
"Hi… where are we going?" Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder.  
"I… figured we'd go to the library," Sebastian replied.  
"Ok, let's go then."   
Sakura grabbed Sebastian's wrist, checked over her shoulder again, and headed off down the road. Once they were far enough away from the school, Sakura let go of Sebastian and quickly called her dad to let him know she was heading to the library. She didn't mention Sebastian.  
"Hey, why don't we cut through the park?" Sebastian suggested.  
"Er… why?" Sakura asked, raising her eyebrow.  
"Well… we'll get to the library quicker…" Sakura sighed.  
"I guess that's true… All right… let's go," she agreed.  
They headed into the park and started down a trail. After a while, Sebastian turned off onto a hidden trail.  
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.  
"Just follow me…" Sebastian replied.  
Sakura sighed and followed. They walked for about fifteen minutes, and finally the trail ended. Sebastian had led her to the top of a cliff in the middle of the woods. The cliff was over 20 feet high, and at the bottom was more dense forest.  
"Where are we?" Sakura asked.  
"I found this place a couple days ago… it's a great place to watch the stars…" Sebastian replied.  
"Um… that's cool…" Sakura said uneasily.  
"Yea… If you want, I'll bring you here sometime, and we can watch the stars together. It's really quite…"   
"Romantic?" Sakura finished.  
Sebastian blushed and said, "Yea…"   
"Look Sebastian… um, I don't know what you're thinking… but…I'd appriciate it if you stopped this," Sakura said, avoiding his eyes.  
"Stop what?"  
"This! I am dating Syaoran… I love him… and you are really starting to make him angry… and to be honest, you're making me uncomfortable." Sebastian crossed his arms and kicked a rock over the cliff.  
"Look, I'm sorry Sebastian, but it's the truth."   
"Yea… I understand. I'll… I'm just gunna go home. I'll see you tomorrow," Sebastian said, and without waiting for a reply, he turned and headed down the trail.  
Sakura watched him leave, and then she sighed. She turned back to the cliff, and kicked some dirt over the edge. She did feel sorry for Sebastian, but she was glad that she managed to resolve the issue. As Sakura turned to leave, she saw a faint glimmer of light through the trees. She moved to investigate, but before she could take a step, a strong magical force hurtled towards her and knocked her backwards off the cliff. Sakura screamed and franticly tried to grab something, but she couldn't get her grip. She hit the bottom hard, and ended up hitting her head on a nearby rock. Sakura struggled to get up, but her vision was blurring and she was extremely dizzy. She managed to get to her feet, but then she got a blinding pain in her head, and with a small groan, she blacked out. A few hours later, Sakura woke with a groan. She managed to push herself up, and she got to her feet. It was starting to get dark, and Sakura knew she had to get out of the woods. But she had no idea where in the woods she was. She staggered into the trees, using the trunks as support. She had lost one of her shoes, and she stepped in a puddle, making her sock damp. Sakura kept walking, but the wet sock was making her uncomfortable, so she peeled it off and dropped it on the trail. Sakura staggered down the trail for another twenty minutes, and then she came to a dead end. The path stopped and turned into a wall of trees and bushes. Sakura groaned, and turned to head back down the trail, but she accidentally slipped on some wet mud. She fell backwards, and once again fell unconscious.

XXXX

Syaoran was sitting at his desk finishing off some math homework when Wei knocked on his door. It was almost 10:00, and Syaoran wanted to finish soon. He got up and answered the door, feeling rather annoyed. Wei handed Syaoran the phone with a disturbed look on his face. It was Sakura's father."Hello Syaoran… have you seen Sakura since school ended?" he asked.  
"No… she said she was going straight home. I haven't heard from her, why?"   
"Well, she said she was going to the library, but I haven't heard from her since, and I checked the library but she's not there. I tried her phone too, but I got no answer."   
Syaoran nearly fainted.  
"Well… we… we have to look for her!" Syaoran said franticly.  
"Syaoran, calm down. Come over here and we'll organize a search, ok?"   
Syaoran agreed, and then grabbed Meiling. Together they ran to Sakura's house. When they arrived, they found Tomoyo, Kyra, Touya and Yukito already there, as well as Tomoyo's mom. Syaoran and Tomoyo entered the living room, and as soon as Touya saw them, he jumped to his feet and started towards Syaoran.  
"What the hell are you doing here!" Touya yelled.  
"Touya! I am NOT going to deal with you right now! Sakura is missing, and she's the only thing that matters! So just shut up!" Syaoran spat.  
Touya was dumbfounded. Instead of replying, he crossed his arms and glared at Syaoran.  
"Ok, we need to get out there and look for Sakura. Does anyone have any ideas?" Sakura's dad asked.  
"Well, I called Chiharu, Naoko, Rikka and Takashi, and they all said they would look around for her, and I tried calling Darrien and Sebastian, but I couldn't get a hold of either of them… I think someone should stay here in case Sakura comes home, or if anyone calls, and the rest of us should spread out an d look for her," Tomoyo said.  
"Sounds good to me… I'll take the car and search downtown," Tomoyo's mom said.  
"Tomoyo and I can go search the school," Meiling suggested.  
"Touya and I will drive around also… and I'll call the hospital, just in case," Yukito said.  
"I'll stay here then," Sakura's dad said.  
"I think Syaoran should stay here with you," Meiling suggested.  
"What? Why?" Syaoran asked angrily.  
"Because you're hurt, remember?" Meiling replied.  
"I'm fine… besides, it doesn't matter. I'm gunna go look for her," Syaoran said, walking towards the door.  
"Let's all go… make sure to check back every once in a while," Yukito said.  
They all agreed, and filed out the door. Tomoyo and Meiling wished Syaoran luck, and then grabbed their flashlights and headed towards the school. Tomoyo's mother hopped in their limo, and took off.  
"Where are you going to look?" Yukito asked Syaoran.  
"I don't know yet… I'm going to head to the library and work my way back from there I suppose," Syaoran replied.  
"Why couldn't YOU get lost?" Touya muttered.  
Syaoran and Yukito both ignored him.  
"Be careful Syaoran… you're injured, so take it easy," Yukito said.  
"Yea, I'll be fine."   
Yukito wished him luck, then hopped in the car with Touya. After they took off, Syaoran headed towards the library. When he got there, the library was closed. He searched the area around the building, and finding nothing, he headed back towards Sakura's house. He decided to shortcut through the park, and look for Sakura there. After about half an hour of searching the woods around the park, Syaoran was starting to get frantic and frustrated. He headed down a trail that lead to the library and walked along the trail. It was pitch black in the woods, but Syaoran wasn't going to give up. He did regret forgetting a flashlight though. After a few minutes, he noticed something strange. There was a path leading off the trail that he had never seen before. It appeared to have been cleared out recently. With his hope restored, Syaoran jogged down the trail. It was now nearly midnight, and after about 10 minutes, Syaoran came to the end of the trail. He nearly ran himself right off a cliff. Syaoran stopped and peered down the side of the cliff, but it was too dark to see anything. He estimated the cliff to be about 15 to 20 feet high. Syaoran decided to check it out, so he leaped off the side and landed clumsily on the ground. A pain shot through his side as he stumbled, but he quickly regained his composure. He grasped his side and headed into the dark woods. Near the edge of the small clearing at the bottom of the cliff, Syaoran stepped on something. He bent down and picked it up. It was a black shoe. He recognized it instantly as Sakura's. Syaoran ran down the trail, calling Sakura's name. A few minutes later, he noticed a sock lying on the path. He knew it was Sakura's, because it had little cherry blossoms on it. He picked up his pace, despite the pain in his side, and headed down the trail. After a few more minutes, Syaoran spotted Sakura lying on the trail. "Sakura!" Syaoran yelled, rushing to her side.  
He tried to wake her, but she was still unconscious. He grabbed his phone and called Tomoyo.  
"I found her! Call the others and meet me at Sakura's place," he said, and hung up without waiting for a reply.  
He then picked Sakura up, ignoring the pain shooting through his side, and he headed out of the forest.

XXXX

When Syaoran arrived at Sakura's place, it was well past one in the morning, and everyone was waiting for him, including Chiharu, Rikka, Naoko, and Takashi, who hadn't been there before. Syaoran was very tired and in a lot of pain, and when Yukito took Sakura from him to place her on the couch, Syaoran collapsed. Meiling rushed to help him up, and Touya raised his eyebrow. He hadn't realized how injured Syaoran actually was. Yukito looked Sakura over, and stated that she had hit her head and probably had a concussion. Syaoran staggered to the couch and leaned on the back to keep himself up.  
"Is she going to be ok?" he asked.  
"Well, I think so, but I'd like to bring her to the hospital anyway," Yukito replied.  
Sakura's father agreed. Tomoyo's mother offered to drive everyone home, and then meet up at the hospital. So Yukito picked up Sakura, and headed to his car, followed by Touya and Sakura's father, while Tomoyo's mother ushered everyone else into her limo. Syaoran staggered towards Yukito. "Please let me come with you," Syaoran asked.  
"Syaoran, you need to rest. You've pushed yourself too hard," Yukito replied.  
"Please… I can't just leave her… I need to make sure she's ok…" Yukito sighed, and then agreed to let him come.  
Syaoran thanked him, and slid into the car. Touya was surprised that Syaoran was able to stay conscious. He wanted to insult Syaoran somehow, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do so. When they got to the hospital, a stretcher and a few nurses were waiting for them. Yukito got Sakura out of the car and put her on the stretcher, and then they brought her inside, followed by Sakura's father. One of the nurses brought Syaoran and Touya to a waiting room, and Syaoran collapsed into a chair. Touya stood against a wall, staring down the hallway. Syaoran kept checking his watch and drumming his fingers, waiting for news. After few moments, Touya glanced over at Syaoran. He looked very pale and tired, but he was also visibly worried. Touya was impressed. He didn't realize that Syaoran was willing to risk himself to help Sakura. He had always thought that he was just using her for something.  
"You know…" Touya started.  
Syaoran glanced at Touya and gave him an annoyed look.  
"Don't start now," he said.  
Touya sighed and continued.  
"I was just going to say… that you surprised me," he said.  
Syaoran raised an eyebrow at him.  
"What do you mean?"   
"Well, I didn't realize you were… that injured… and I dunno… it just shocked me that you pushed yourself so hard to find Sakura…"   
"Well, what did you expect?"  
"Well… I…"  
But before Touya could reply, Tomoyo's mother joined them, followed by Tomoyo and Meiling.  
"Hello boys… these two tagged along, they refused to go home. Where is Sakura?" Tomoyo's mother asked, taking a seat.  
"Dunno… we haven't heard anything yet," Touya replied.  
Meiling and Tomoyo took a seat on either side Syaoran.  
"You ok?" Meiling asked him.  
Syaoran nodded and told her not to worry. After about an hour, Yukito appeared. Syaoran shot to his feet, and after nearly falling over again, he said, "How is she? Is she ok? Can I see her?"   
Yukito chuckled.  
"Yes, She'll be fine. We're going to keep her here overnight, but she can go home tomorrow. Her dad just left to get her some things. She hasn't regained consciousness yet, but yes, you can go in and see her if you like," he said.  
Syaoran looked relieved. Yukito led them all to Sakura's room. She was lying in a hospital bed, and she was sleeping peacefully. Syaoran immediately walked to her side and took her hand. After a couple hours, Tomoyo's mother decided that it was time to go home, but Syaoran refused to leave Sakura. So after much stubbornness, Tomoyo's mother took Tomoyo and Meiling home, and Syaoran stayed behind. Sakura's father and Touya stayed as well. Yukito however, had a shift a few hours later, so he went home and slept, then came back later when he had to work. Syaoran had pulled up a chair next to Sakura's bed, while Touya and Sakura's father sat by the window talking quietly. Syaoran was absolutely exhausted, and it hurt him to even breathe, but he was determined to stay awake and watch over Sakura. By the time the sun rose though, Syaoran had fallen asleep, his head resting on the side of Sakura's bed. Around 8:00 the next morning, the nurse came in to check on Sakura. She grinned when she saw Syaoran fast asleep by Sakura's bed, and then left a breakfast tray for when Sakura woke up. After she left, Sakura's father decided to get he, Touya, and Syaoran some coffee and breakfast. Touya glanced at Syaoran, and frowned. He didn't know what he was going to do. He still hated the fact that Sakura was dating Syaoran, but Touya had finally realized that Syaoran wasn't all that bad. For the time being, Touya had decided to just ignore Syaoran and not start any fights. Sakura stirred, causing Touya to stand and walk over to her bed. She sighed, and slowly opened her eyes. She saw Touya first, who was standing over her bed. She smiled at him, and then she noticed Syaoran sleeping, his arms folded on her bed, and his head resting on them. Sakura's smile widened, and she reached over and gently took his hand.  
"How are you feeling?" Touya asked.  
"Oh, I'm fine… my head is a little sore, but it's no big deal. How long has he been asleep?" Sakura asked in reply.  
"Um, a few hours I guess. He's been here all night… he refused to leave actually…"   
Sakura smiled again, and sat up. She noticed the breakfast tray beside her bed, made a face, and leaned back against her pillows. She crossed her arms and looked around the room.  
"Well, I'm bored. When can I go home?" she asked.  
Touya smirked and shook his head.  
"Today… I'll talk to the doctor and see about getting you home as soon as possible," he replied.  
"Ok, great!"   
"Actually, I'll go find Yukito now… I'm glad you're ok kaiju."  
Sakura was tempted to throw a pillow at him, but instead she just smiled. Touya left the room, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone. Sakura placed her hand on Syaoran's arm and gently shook him. It was obvious that he was exhausted, but Sakura knew he would be upset if Sakura didn't wake him up. Syaoran looked up sleepily, and when he saw Sakura, he grinned.  
"Sakura! How are you feeling?" he asked.  
"I'm fine… I'm just happy you're here," Sakura replied.  
Syaoran took her hand and beamed at her. He started to say something, but before he could, Touya and Sakura's dad came into the room. Sakura gave her dad a hug, and assured him that she was ok. After they all ate, Yukito came in and checked Sakura over. Around lunch, Sakura was able to go home. Syaoran came with her, despite the fact that he was still exhausted. When they got to Sakura's house, Touya went home, and Sakura's dad went to make tea, so Syaoran and Sakura headed up to her room. As soon as Sakura opened the door, Kero pounced on her.  
"Sakura! I was so worried! I wanted to go look for you, but I couldn't, and…"   
Sakura laughed and cut him off by saying, "I'm fine, Kero. Don't worry."   
He smiled at her, then went and sat on the windowsill. Sakura closed her door and flopped down on her bed. She spread out, and let out a big yawn. Syaoran smiled, and sat at the end of Sakura's bed. She giggled and sat up, and then she crawled over to Syaoran and grabbed his hand.  
"I know you're tired and all… if you wanna sprawl out, go for it!" Sakura said with a smirk.  
Syaoran blushed. Sakura giggled again, then gently pushed him so he was lying down on her bed. She then lay down beside him and smiled.  
"Touya told me that you stayed with me all night…" Sakura said.  
"Er… yea… I did," Syaoran said, blushing even deeper.  
"And you found me too, didn't you? In the woods I mean," Sakura added.  
"Yea… er, what happened anyway?"   
"Well, I decided to go to the library before I went home, and I took a shortcut through the park… and then I found that trail and decided to check it out, and I found the cliff and I slipped… that's pretty much it."   
Syaoran raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't question her story. But Kero decided to pipe up.  
"You just… fell? Are you sure you weren't attacked?" he asked.  
"Well, I dunno…"  
Before they could question her further, Sakura's father walked in the room carrying a tray with teacups and a pot of tea. When he saw Sakura and Syaoran lying on her bed together, he raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Behind him, Tomoyo and Meiling walked into the room. They, however, giggled silently when they saw Sakura and Syaoran, which caused both of them to blush and sit up. Sakura's father asked her if she needed anything, then left the four of them alone to talk.  
"So Sakura, what happened out there?" Tomoyo asked once they were alone.  
"I just… I fell… and then I got lost. It was an accident," she replied.  
"That's it? I figured you were attacked or something," Meiling said.  
"Nope…"  
"And you were alone?" Kero asked.  
"Well… yea…"  
"Sakura, what aren't you telling us?" Syaoran questioned.  
"Nothing! Don't worry about it, ok?" Sakura replied.  
They all gave each other suspicious looks, but decided to drop the issue for the time being. Sakura spent the rest of the weekend in bed, and Syaoran spent nearly the whole weekend at her side. The only time he left her was to go home and sleep. On Monday, news about Sakura's accident had gotten around the school, and she found herself being bombarded by questions. When she entered the classroom, Darren was already in his seat. Syaoran glared at him at him as he took his seat behind Sakura. Darren left his desk and approached Sakura as she sat down.  
"Hey! I heard what happened to you… how are you feeling?" he asked.  
"Better," Sakura replied.  
Just then, Tomoyo and Meiling entered the classroom and took their seats on either side of Sakura. Darren greeted the girls.  
"Hey Darren…" Tomoyo started.  
"Yes?"   
"Where were you on Friday night?" she asked.  
"Friday night? I had a piano lesson," Darren replied.  
"A Piano lesson? That late?" Tomoyo asked suspiciously.  
"Yea… my aunt teaches me piano three times a week for free… but she teaches piano during the day so I have to get my lessons after dinner at her place… why?"  
"Oh, I was just wondering… I tried calling you to let you know Sakura was missing, but I got no reply at your house," Tomoyo explained.  
"Oh, I see. Well, If I had known, I would have been out there looking for you as well," Darren assured.  
Sakura smiled at him, but Syaoran eyed him suspiciously. He didn't trust his story in the least. When Cyre took her seat behind Meiling, Tomoyo asked her the same question.  
"Cyre, where were you Friday night?"  
"Me? Why do you want to know?" Cyre asked.  
"Just curious…" Tomoyo replied.  
"Well, not that it's really any of your business, but I was home all night writing letters to my friends back home. Why do you care anyway? I never gave you my number, so it's not like you were trying to call me or anything," Cyre questioned.  
"I was just wondering if maybe you had seen anything… you know what happened to Sakura that night, right?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Yea, I heard. But I…"  
Before Cyre could finish, the teacher entered the room, causing the class to settle down. Syaoran noticed that Sebastian wasn't in class, and started to grow suspicious. At lunch, he mentioned it to the girls, but Sakura just told him there was nothing to worry about. But Tomoyo began having her suspicions as well. She had seen Sakura and Sebastian meet up after school on Friday, but she didn't mention it because she knew it would enrage Syaoran. She was sure the meeting was completely innocent, but she was beginning to not trust Sebastian, after all, he was the last person seen with Sakura, and nobody had been able to get a hold of him that night. So instead, she decided to leave it alone for now, but keep a closer eye on him in the future.


	13. Rain

Hello everyone! Well, the story is coming close to being done... only a few chapters left! I think you're gunna like this chapter... Enjoy! 

A/N: I don't own CCS

Rain

Sebastian didn't show up again until Friday, which made everybody suspicious, even Sakura. He sauntered into the classroom that morning and took his seat beside Syaoran, smiling smugly at him. He gave a cheerful wave to Tomoyo, then started jotting down notes from his textbook. Syaoran stood and approached Sebastian's desk. He slammed his fist down on Sebastian's book, causing Sebastian to jump and look up.  
"What's gotten into you?" Sebastian asked.  
"Where were you last Friday night?" Syaoran demanded.  
"Friday night? Why?" Sebastian asked.  
Tomoyo turned around in her seat and said, "Sakura went missing on Friday… didn't you hear? I tried calling you, but you weren't at home."  
Sebastian paled.  
"No… I didn't hear about that… is she ok?" he asked worriedly.  
"She's fine, no thanks to you," Syaoran said bitterly.  
"What are you accusing me of?" Sebastian asked.  
"We just wanted to know where you've been," Tomoyo explained.  
"I flew home to visit family for the week! I left on Saturday! Even ask Yamahari sensei!" Sebastian said defensively.  
"Fine, but where were you on FRIDAY NIGHT?" Syaoran pressured.  
"Packing! I left school, and headed to the library with Sakura, but she changed her mind, so I went alone. When the library closed, I headed home to pack!" Sebastian explained.  
"Wait, you WERE with Sakura on Friday?" Syaoran asked.  
"Yea… I asked her to help me with some schoolwork… didn't she tell you that? I didn't hurt her or anything though, I could never do that," Sebastian said, smirking.  
"Why didn't you answer your phone that night, if you were home?" Tomoyo asked, ignoring the now enraged Syaoran.  
"I turned it off so I wouldn't get distracted," Sebastian said simply.  
Tomoyo was still suspicious, but his story was plausible. She decided to believe his story.  
Syaoran didn't know what to think. He was furious that Sebastian had been spending time with Sakura without him knowing. Why would Sakura lie? He wasn't sure what he wanted to do more at the moment; punch Sebastian in the face, or go jump off a bridge, but he was sure he would settle for slaughtering Sebastian for the time being.  
Just then, Sakura walked into the room, nearly late for class. She greeted her friends with a warm smile, but only received small smiles from Tomoyo, Meiling, and Darren. Sebastian was still eyeing Syaoran carefully, just in case he turned violent, and Syaoran was shaking in anger, glaring at the floor. Sakura lightly placed her hand on Syaoran's shoulder.  
"What's wrong? Are you ok?" she asked.  
Syaoran swatted her hand away and ignored her. He turned, and walked back to his desk, plopping down angrily. Sakura gave a questioning look to Tomoyo, who simply shrugged. Tomoyo knew she should stick up for Sakura, but she knew that Syaoran had every right to be angry. It was obvious that Sakura would never betray Syaoran, but she had lied and kept things from him, and she probably deserved to be given the cold shoulder. Sakura glanced at Syaoran and was about to question him again, but the teacher appeared in the doorway and asked everyone to take their seats. Sakura hesitantly took her place in front of Syaoran. She wanted to turn and talk to him, but she knew she would get in trouble. She could sense just how angry he was though. She began to panic. Suddenly, a paper airplane hit her in the shoulder. Sakura grabbed it and looked around to see who threw it. Cyre smirked and waved slyly. Sakura un-folded the airplane to find writing on the inside. It said,

'Ha ha! You're gunna be dumped!'

Sakura spun in her chair to face Cyre, who smirked again. Then Sakura glanced behind her at Syaoran, who was pointedly staring at his pencil, arms folded. He glanced up when he sensed her eyes on him and locked eyes with her briefly, then broke his gaze away and stared at the floor. Sakura could see pain, confusion, and anger in his eyes, and she couldn't figure out what was wrong. She wanted to hug him and make him feel better, but before she could say anything to him, the teacher spotted her and told her to turn around. Sakura ended up having to clean the blackboards during lunch, so she never got the chance to speak with Syaoran. By the time school ended, dark, grey clouds had passed overhead, casting shadows over the town and threatening rain. When the last bell finally rang, Syaoran grabbed his stuff and left before Sakura could say anything to him. Sakura, of course, followed him as quickly as possible. She caught up to him outside by the front door. It had begun to rain, and Syaoran didn't have an umbrella. He was in a bad enough mood already, without being soaked. The other students fled the schoolyard, trying to get home as quickly as possible. Sakura spotted Syaoran leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, staring out into the rain. She approached him and stood by his side.  
"Syaoran?" she said timidly.  
He ignored her and kept staring at the rain. He hoped Sakura would get the hint and leave him alone, but she persisted.  
"Syaoran, talk to me!" Sakura begged.  
He shook his head and turned his back to Sakura. She sighed. The rain began to pour, and she noticed that the schoolyard was now empty. Even if she wanted to leave, she wouldn't have because she didn't have an umbrella either, nor did she bring her jacket, and she didn't want to catch a cold. So she waited, standing beside Syaoran in silence. The wind picked up, causing Sakura to shiver. She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to keep warm. Syaoran glanced at her and frowned. Without saying a word, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it around Sakura's shoulders. "Go home," he said, turning his back on her again. Sakura wrapped Syaoran's jacket around herself, thankful for the warmth. She pulled the sleeves over her hands, and then brought them up to her face, covering her mouth and nose, trying to warm her face. His jacket smelled like him, which Sakura liked.  
"Syaoran, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong…" Sakura said suddenly.  
Syaoran spun to face her. She could still see the hurt and anger in his eyes.  
"You wanna know what's wrong?" he asked, a little too viciously.  
Sakura brought her hands away from her face and nodded. Syaoran sighed heavily, glaring at his shoes.  
"You lied to me Sakura," he muttered.  
"I lied to you?" she asked, confused.  
"About last Friday… about Sebastian… probably about everything…" he said.  
"What? What do you mean?"  
"LAST FRIDAY! You told me you had to go home and make dinner, but you really met up with Sebastian! And then when I asked you what had happened to you, you said you got lost and fell! Why did you lie! Why didn't you tell me you were with Sebastian!" Syaoran hollered.  
Sakura stared at him wide-eyed. Syaoran had never yelled at her before, not like this. He was genuinely angry, and Sakura knew he had every right to be.  
"I… I'm sorry Syaoran…I…" she began.  
"What, that you got caught?" Syaoran spat bitterly.  
"Syaoran! It's nothing! He wanted help with school!" Sakura said.  
"Yea right! Like that's all he wanted! You know damn well that he's obsessed with you!" Syaoran said, raising his voice again.  
"Do you really think I'd let him DO anything?" Sakura argued, raising her voice as well.  
"I don't know anymore! I mean you lied to me Sakura! For all I know, you two COULD be involved! You're already spending time with him behind my back, how could I possibly believe that nothing is going on!"  
"Do you really think that LOW of me!" Sakura screamed at him.  
"I don't know what to think anymore…" Syaoran muttered.  
Sakura stared at him and shook her head is disbelief.  
"I don't know if I even trust you anymore… everything you've ever told me could be a lie! How do I know anything is true? How… how can I be sure that you really do love me?" Syaoran added, gazing intently at the pavement.  
Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.  
"How could you say that? You KNOW that I do…" she whimpered.  
"Do I?"  
The tears began to fall down Sakura's cheeks. She bit her bottom lip, trying not to cry, but she couldn't help it. She let out a sob and ripped Syaoran's jacket off of her, then threw it at him.  
"You're so cold-hearted!" Sakura screamed at him, then promptly ran off into the pouring rain.  
Syaoran gazed at her for a few moments, then threw his jacket on the ground in anger.  
"Wait!" he called after her.  
He WAS angry with Sakura, but he knew he had overreacted, and had said some hurtful things.  
"Sakura! Wait!" he called again.  
But the sound of the rain drowned out his voice. Syaoran watched her disappear behind the gate.  
"Shit… I'm such a MORON!" he muttered to himself. He shook his head, and then ran off after Sakura.

XXXX

Sakura ran down the road as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care. She just wanted to be anywhere else. She couldn't believe that Syaoran had said such things to her. She felt like her heart had been ripped out. Sakura suddenly stopped in the middle of the deserted road, unable to run anymore. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. She was now soaking wet and dripping from head to toe, but she didn't care. It didn't matter if she got sick. Nothing mattered to her anymore. Syaoran was breaking her heart, and it was more than she could bear. Sakura's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the rain-soaked pavement, weeping.

XXXX

Syaoran wasn't sure where she had gone, but he was determined to find Sakura. He had to find her. He couldn't stand to lose her. He continued down the road, now completely soaked. He was worried that Sakura would catch a cold. She definitely couldn't afford to be sick right now. "Why am I so stupid?" Syaoran muttered to himself.  
He began to get short of breath, but he refused to stop. After a few minutes, much to Syaoran's relief, he spotted Sakura sitting in the middle of the road. He slowed his pace, and walked up to her slowly.  
"Sakura?" he whispered.  
She sniffed, but didn't answer. Slowly, she got to her feet. She didn't turn around. Instead, she began fiercely wiping the tears off her cheeks. Syaoran lightly grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. Her face was flushed and her eyes were red from crying. She refused to look at Syaoran, but he could see more tears pouring out of her eyes.  
"Sakura… I'm sorry…" Syaoran whispered. She bit her lip again, staring at the ground.  
"I'm really, really sorry… I didn't mean any of those things…" he said, pulling Sakura closer to him.  
She sobbed again and covered her face with her hands.  
"I didn't mean anything by it… honest! I just didn't want to hurt his feelings…" Sakura mumbled.  
Syaoran wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his soaked shirt.  
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be angry…" she added.  
"I know…" Syaoran whispered, stroking her dripping hair.  
Sakura clutched onto Syaoran's shirt as she sobbed silently.  
"I'm so sorry Sakura… I said such awful things to you… God, I'm such an asshole…" Syaoran said.  
Sakura giggled into Syaoran's shoulder.  
"Not always…" she said, finally looking up at him.  
Syaoran gave her a small smile.  
"Do you forgive me?" he asked with a pleading look in his eyes.  
"Only if you forgive me…" Sakura replied.  
Syaoran smirked.  
"It's settled then. We'll forgive and forget…" he whispered, resting his chin on the top of Sakura's head.  
"I love you so much Syaoran… I could never do anything to hurt you…" Sakura whispered into his shoulder.  
"I know… I know you do."  
Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran's neck and hugged him close.  
"I love you more than my heart can take… and I love you more with each breath…" Syaoran whispered, gazing into Sakura's eyes.  
Her heart pounded as he gazed at her. She could plainly see the pure love and desire that he had for her flickering in his eyes. Syaoran saw the same as he gazed back at her. His breath caught in his throat. He reached up and stroked Sakura's cheek gently, wiping away the rain and remaining tears. Her lips parted as she attempted to say something, but Syaoran cut her off by leaning in and kissing her softly. Sakura's eyes widened. She and Syaoran had never kissed before, although she had been fantasizing about it since they first expressed their feelings for each other.  
As soon as the kiss had begun, it ended. Sakura touched her lips gently with her fingers and gazed up at Syaoran. He had a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. He let out a long, quivering breath, and then gave Sakura a small smile. Sakura smiled back, and she could feel her face flush. Syaoran reached up and took Sakura's hand, then leaned in and kissed her again. Sakura closed her eyes, and enjoyed Syaoran's soft lips on hers. It seemed like every feeling, every emotion they felt for each other was building up and coming out through this one kiss. Sakura could feel her breath catch as she clung to Syaoran's shirt. He put his hands gently on her waist and pulled her closer. Sakura's body suddenly became very hot, and she moaned slightly against Syaoran's lips. He gently slid his fingers up Sakura's back and then into her hair, sending a shiver up her spine. Sakura started to feel weak in the knees, and wrapped her arms around Syaoran for support. Their kiss didn't last long, but when they parted, they were both gasping for breath.  
"Wow…" Sakura breathed quietly, gazing into Syaoran's eyes.  
Syaoran blushed and smiled at Sakura, who in turn began to blush. They stood in the rain gazing at each other silently. They no longer needed to speak; they both knew exactly what the other was thinking and feeling. After a few moments, Syaoran spoke up.  
"We should get out of the rain," he whispered.  
"Yea," Sakura agreed.  
Syaoran kissed her forehead softly, then took her hand in his and headed towards Sakura's house. They walked in silence, simply enjoying the others company. They were both still recovering from the intensity of their kiss. Sakura moved closer to Syaoran, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They reached Sakura's house much sooner than they had liked. Syaoran walked Sakura to the door then stopped. He could see Touya's car in the driveway, and even though Touya seemed to be tolerating him lately, Syaoran didn't want to push his luck. He faced Sakura and brushed her hair behind her ear, then pressed his forehead against hers.  
"I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" he whispered.  
"Okay," Sakura replied.  
Syaoran kissed her lightly on the lips, and then smiled at her.  
"Have a good night," he said.  
Sakura nodded, and then reluctantly opened the door.  
"You too," she replied.  
They both grinned at each other as Sakura stepped inside. She gave him a small wave, and then closed the door. Sighing, she leaned against the wall, placing a hand over her chest. Her heart was racing, and Sakura got short-winded just remembering their kiss. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reliving the moment. Just then, Touya and Yukito came through the hallway from the kitchen carrying a tray with tea. They both gave her a weird look.  
"What are you doing?" Touya asked.  
Sakura's eyes shot open. She hadn't even heard them come by!  
"Uh… nothing…" she said, unable to think of anything better at the moment.  
Touya raised an eyebrow.  
"You're soaked Sakura… You should go put on some dry clothes, then come have tea with us," Yukito said.  
The corner of his mouth was turned up slightly in a small smile, and Sakura blushed, figuring he knew exactly what had happened. She smiled thankfully at Yukito for giving her a reason to avoid further questions, and then bounded happily up the stairs. Kero was sitting at the windowsill as usual; he seemed to be glued there recently. He turned when Sakura entered, and frowned at her wet clothes.  
"Aren't you cold?" he asked.  
Sakura smiled and her eyes twinkled in memory.  
"Not at all Kero…. Not at all."

Did you like it? I know it was short.. but I had to put it in! Please Review!


	14. Truth

A/N: I don't own CCS.

Truth

The next week passed by slowly, and for the most part, uneventfully. Sakura had told Tomoyo about the passionate kiss she shared with Syaoran, and Tomoyo instantly told Meiling, so now the two girls were giggling every time Sakura and Syaoran even looked at each other. They were all very tense though, because the attacks on Sakura and Syaoran had seemed to get further and further apart, and they were all unsure of when their attacker would strike again. Nearly two weeks had passed since Sakura's accident, and they hadn't been attacked since. It was now May, and the weather was growing warmer, making everyone realize how close summer break was. The weekend rolled around, and everyone was happy to be out of school for a few days. It was warm out, and all the students' hated being cooped up during such nice weather. When the final bell rung on Friday, everyone rushed home to get a head start on the weekend. Tomoyo and Meiling, who had been spending tons of time together lately, had made plans already, and took off towards Tomoyo's house. Sakura and Syaoran slowly walked down the road, hand in hand, trying to decide what they should do. They knew their friends had left them alone intentionally, but they didn't mind in the least. They finally decided to just head to Syaoran's house. They arrived to find the house empty, and Syaoran figured Wei was out getting groceries. They both dropped their schoolbags at the door, then entered the house and sat side by side on the couch, both of them blushing slightly.  
"Do you want anything?" Syaoran asked, breaking the silence.  
"No, I'm all right," Sakura replied.  
Syaoran nodded and leaned back against the couch. Sakura glanced at him, and he smiled at her. She blushed and returned his smile. "Why is this so awkward?" Syaoran suddenly asked.  
"I… I don't know…" Sakura replied truthfully.  
Syaoran laughed quietly, and then said, "This is ridiculous."  
Sakura giggled and agreed. Syaoran grinned at her, then leaned over and kissed her softly, taking Sakura by surprise. She quickly recovered, and wrapped her arms around Syaoran's neck. He placed one and on her back, and the other on her cheek. Sakura sighed softly, and then leaned back on the couch, pulling Syaoran down with her. He broke the kiss and gazed at Sakura lying underneath him, and blushed furiously. She ran a finger softly down his cheek, then pulled Syaoran close and continued kissing him. Syaoran moaned slightly, as he began to kiss her more passionately. Sakura put her hands underneath the back of Syaoran's shirt and ran her fingers up his back lightly. He shivered pleasurably, and sighed against her lips. He then ran his hand gently up Sakura's thigh and underneath her skirt. Sakura moaned quietly and hooked one leg around Syaoran's legs. He grazed his fingers along Sakura's inner thigh, and she pulled him closer eagerly. Suddenly, the front door creaked open. Syaoran and Sakura shot upright, blushing furiously. Tomoyo and Meiling walked into the room and saw Syaoran still sitting between Sakura's legs. Syaoran's shirt was un-tucked and Sakura's skirt was crumpled up around her waist.  
"Uh… are we interrupting?" Meiling asked, biting her lip to hide her smirk.  
Sakura and Syaoran both turned crimson and began adjusting their clothing. Meiling and Tomoyo walked into the room and sat on he couch opposite Sakura and Syaoran. The girls smirked at each other as they watched Sakura and Syaoran fix themselves up and then sit on opposite sides of the couch.  
"Anyway… we're glad you're both here, because we have a surprise for you…" Tomoyo said, reaching for her bag.  
"What is it?" Sakura asked, still flushed not only from embarrassment, but also from lingering passion.  
Tomoyo grinned, then reached into the bag. She pulled out what looked to be two bundles of fabric, one pink and one green. She unfolded the pink one, revealing a battle costume for Sakura. The shirt was pink, had a high neck, and was sleeveless, but had long, matching gloves. It also had a small star, sun, and moon across the chest. The bottom was black shorts, and had a pink and white half-skirt on one side that reached down to her ankle. Tomoyo pulled out a pair of black knee-high boots to complete the outfit. It was simple, but efficient. Sakura stared at the costume in shock. Tomoyo then unfolded the green bundle, revealing a matching uniform for Syaoran. The shirt was green and had short sleeves, as well as the same star, sun, and moon pattern as Sakura's. There were small black gloves that were fingerless and stopped at the wrist. The pants were straight legged and fairly simple, and the costume was topped off with black boots as well, only they weren't as high as Sakura's. They both gawked at the costumes, unable to speak. Tomoyo hadn't made a battle costume in ages, and they wondered why she started again.  
"Do you like them? I figured… that with everything that's been going on lately… you could use some good battle clothes. I made them match and everything," Tomoyo said proudly.  
Sakura grinned at her.  
"They're wonderful Tomoyo! Thank you," she said honestly.  
Syaoran agreed and gave Tomoyo a smile. Neither of them WANTED battle costumes, but they were well made and they looked cool, so they accepted Tomoyo's gift graciously. After they carefully folded the costumes back up, Meiling got them all tea from the kitchen and they spent the rest of the evening discussing whom they believed was behind the attacks. Sakura honestly had no opinion, as she was still certain that all their new suspects had nothing to do with any of it. That night when Sakura got home, Kero was yet again sitting at the windowsill.  
"Kero-chan? Why do you always sit there?" Sakura asked as she entered her room.  
Kero turned and gave Sakura a stern look.  
"Can't you feel it? That strange energy… it's growing stronger. It's stronger now than it has been so far," he said grimly.  
Sakura frowned and crossed her arms.  
"I've been feeling really tense lately… I think the surge in this person's energy is really getting to me," she muttered.  
"That doesn't surprise me," Kero said.  
Sakura sighed and said, "I have a bad feeling… something is going to happen… and soon."

XXXX

The next day when Sakura wandered downstairs for breakfast, there was a letter addressed to her on the table. Her father had to go into work for a few hours, so she figured that he left the letter for her when he found it on his way out. The envelope was sealed and the only thing on it was Sakura's name. There was no addresses or anything. Sakura frowned. Whoever had left the letter had dropped it off at their door personally. Sakura ripped open the top and pulled the letter out. It was a small piece of white paper that was folded in half. She unfolded it and saw a short message that said,

'Meet me at the park, 8:00 tonight. Come alone.'

Sakura re-read the message again, still frowning. She had no idea who had given her the letter. She didn't recognize the writing at all. She headed over to the phone and called Syaoran. She explained the strange message, and he came right over, followed closely by Tomoyo and Meiling. Sakura passed the note around, but nobody recognized the writing at all.  
"Whom could it possibly be from?" Meiling asked, crossing her arms.  
"I bet it's that bastard Sebastian… or maybe Darrien," Sayoran muttered.  
"Nooo… I know what they're writing looks like… same with Cyre's. I have no idea who wrote this," Tomoyo said.  
"I bet it's our attacker," Sakura said.  
"Yea, me too. And whoever it is, they probably disguised the writing," Tomoyo agreed.  
"So what are you gunna do?" Meiling asked.  
"I don't know… there's only one thing I can think of…" Sakura replied.  
"Ooohh no. You're not going Sakura! Especially by yourself!" Syaoran argued.  
"I have to! This may be our chance to finally end this!" Sakura said.  
Syaoran sighed and seemed to consider her words carefully. Finally he said, "I suppose you're right. But I am going too. There is no way I'll let you go alone." Sakura nodded.  
"So it's settled then. Tonight, we'll know the truth."

XXXX

Sakura and Syaoran walked silently towards the park, wearing Tomoyo's matching battle costumes. It was nearly 8:00, and they were both very nervous. They arrived at the park and stood silently, waiting. Sakura summoned her staff and Syaoran drew his sword as they both prepared for battle. They suddenly saw people approaching them, and they both held their breath. When the approaching people came into view, Sakura and Syaoran were surprised to see Tomoyo, Meiling, Yue, and Kero.  
"What are you guys doing here?" Sakura asked.  
"Yue and I are here to help you. You're our master Sakura… we're not just gunna stand by and let you get hurt," Kero said.  
"And those two?" Syaoran asked, nodding at Meiling and Tomoyo.  
"Uhm… I'm here to record your battle… and Meiling is going to keep me company," Tomoyo replied.  
"AND I'm going to protect her… just in case," Meiling added.  
"No you guys… this is too dangerous! I can't let you stay," Sakura protested.  
Tomoyo pouted and crossed her arms.  
"We'll stay hidden, we promise," Meiling said.  
Syaoran and Sakura both sighed then decided to let them stay. There was nothing they could do anyway; Meiling and Tomoyo would simply sneak back if they were sent away. The two girls wished Sakura and Syaoran luck, and then disappeared into the bushes to hide. "Now what?" Sakura asked.  
"I dunno. We wait I suppose," Syaoran replied, checking his watch.  
It was a little past eight; their mystery person should have been there by now. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light lit the area. Everyone shielded their eyes. When the light disappeared, a figure stood before them. Sakura stared in shock. It was Kyra.  
"Kyra? You're the attacker?" Sakura said in disbelief.  
Kyra stepped forward, and then collapsed to the ground. She shook her head and struggled to her feet. It was then that Sakura noticed that Kyra's arm was bleeding badly, and she was clutching her ribs. Sakura walked to Kyra to help her stand.  
"I… I'm not your enemy…" Kyra whispered.  
"What happened to you?" Sakura asked.  
"My sister… I tried to stop her… I didn't know… honestly…" Kyra muttered.  
"You're not making any sense," Syaoran said.  
Sakura helped Kyra sit on the ground, and then waited patiently for her to piece her story together.  
"It started about a year ago…" Kyra started, trying to make sense of her story.  
"What did?" Sakura asked, prompting Kyra for information.  
Finally, she said, "My sister… we're from a powerful magical family… the Yari family. We all lived in this huge mansion… and we ran a magic school… like the Li family does. Well, one day my sister Arya found this book on ancient magics and it had a spell in it to evoke the most powerful magic of the time. She told me about it, and asked me to help. She desperately wanted to strengthen her power… she was after all the heir to the Yari family. So I agreed to help her… but things went horribly wrong. The spell backfired, and started sucking the magic out of all the people in the house. It was horrible… they were all screaming in agony… their magic being brutally ripped from their bodies… only Arya and I were unaffected, as we were the ones performing the spell. Anyway… When the screaming finally stopped… everyone was dead… they were staring lifelessly… even my tiny baby cousins…" Kyra sobbed at the memory, and paused for a few moments. She wiped away her tears then continued.  
"Afterwards… Arya seemed to just… withdraw inside herself. She went mad in an instant. She took one look at the bodies of our family… then she lit the place on fire. She dragged me out of the house and we watched as the entire estate went up in flames… everything and everyone we had ever known was gone. I know Arya blamed herself… and she wanted so bad to reverse our mistake… so we fled. We went to the nearest town and decided where to go from there. Arya had heard a rumor that there was a very powerful magic… the Clow cards, and they were directly linked to the Li family's power. She had heard that the cards were resurrected and resided here, in Tomoeda. She thought that with the cards… she could become even mote powerful and attempt to bring our family back… so we changed our name and moved here"  
"Didn't Eriol mention something about a magical family being destroyed in a house fire?" "Syaoran interrupted.  
Sakura nodded then said,  
"It must be the same thing"  
Kyra sobbed again.  
"I didn't know she would try to kill you… honest. I only found out tonight what she was up to. I tried to stop her… but she attacked me… calling me a traitor. I used what small amount of magic I had left to escape her and come warn you… Arya is your enemy… she WILL try to kill you. But please… she is my sister… my only remaining family! Don't kill her! Please!" Kyra begged.  
Sakura stared at the poor girl and wrapped her arms around her.  
"I won't kill her… I promise," she said.  
"Sakura! We can't promise that! Killing her may be the only way to stop her!" Syaoran said angrily.  
"Please no! I'm begging you! It was all an accident… Arya's gone mad! It's not her fault! Please, please don't kill her!" Kyra begged, tears streaming down her face.  
Syaoran crossed his arms and stared at her sternly.  
"I'll try not to… but I can't promise anything. It may be our only choice," he said.  
Kyra broke down once again and began to sob into Sakura's shoulder. When she regained her composure, she suddenly remembered something she had meant to say.  
"Arya can manipulate the elements… that is the power that has been inherited throughout our family for generations. But she also gained some new and strange powers through the spell… she can possess things… and create things. She can also conjure evil creatures of magic to do her bidding. Be very careful…" Kyra warned.  
Sakura was about to ask a question, but Kyra was suddenly pulled away from her grasp and flung nearly twenty feet from where she was. Sakura shot to her feet and gasped. Arya stood over Kyra's unconscious form, staring down at her sister.  
"Traitor…" she muttered.  
Arya stepped away from her sister and moved a few feet closer to Sakura. Syaoran stepped up protectively beside her, causing Arya to laugh. There was a blackened aura around her, and the evil magic cracked off of her body like lightning. Her usually red hair was now jet-black and whipping around her face violently. Her eyes were blackened as well, and Sakura shuddered at the sight of her. Arya raised her arms and black magic shot into the air. Suddenly, thousands of little black demons came flocking towards them.  
"We got the pests!" Kero cried, morphing into his true form.  
He and Yue took off into the air and began wiping out the miniature demons. Arya sent black waves of energy toward Sakura and Syaoran, and they began battling her ferociously.  
"We gotta stop her without killing her!" Sakura yelled to Syaoran, summoning the water card to take out a magic wave.  
"Yea, but how?" Syaoran replied, slashing wildly with his sword.  
"Maybe one of the cards could help?" Sakura said.  
She thought for a minute, and then had an idea.  
"What about the shield card?" she asked.  
"No way! The shield card protects against outside forces… we'd make her untouchable!" Syaoran replied.  
"But if I reverse it, I maybe able to stop her from attacking… a reverse shied… is it possible?" Sakura said.  
"Maybe… you changed the fly card after all… but it's too risky!" Syaoran shouted as she swatted at more magical attacks.  
Sakura agreed. It was too risky… but she had to try something. Suddenly, there were flashes of light being hurled at them. Sakura saw one shoot by her arm, and it grazed her sleeve, ripping the fabric.  
"Syaoran! I'm gunna try it!" she hollered.  
"No! It's to dangerous!" he yelled, fighting off an attack.  
"I have to try!" Sakura argued.  
"NO! I'm gunna go after her! Stay back Sakura!" Syaoran yelled.  
He charged towards her, sword raised. Everything seemed so familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. Dread suddenly washed over her and she knew she had to act fast. She grabbed the shield card.  
"Shied! Reverse yourself and contain Arya's power"  
She released the magic and watched as zoomed past Syaoran towards Arya. She ran forward, trying to get to Syaoran. There was a blinding light, which made Sakura stop dead in her tracks. She thought it was the card at first, but as the light faded away, she realized it wasn't. The shield card smacked into Arya, and created a barrier against her magic. Sakura's spell had worked. But the flash that had blinded Sakura had also blinded Syaoran, and he didn't see the attack that was heading his way. Syaoran squinted and regained his sight to see a jet of light shoot towards him, but it was too late. It hit Syaoran, piercing him through the right side of his chest. Blood sprayed onto Sakura's face and clothes. Syaoran gasped in pain and shock, then stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Sakura screamed, then rushed to his side and scooped him up in her arms.  
"Syaoran? Are you ok?" she asked frantically, running her fingers along his cheek.  
Syaoran squeezed his eyes shut, then reached up and grasped the front of Sakura's clothes. A pool of blood started to form around the two of them, and Syaoran groaned in pain. Sakura sobbed and took his hand in hers.  
"Syaoran… hang in there… you'll be ok…" she whispered.  
Arya began laughing manically behind the barrier, but Sakura ignored her.  
"Sakura… I… I'm so sorry…" Syaoran gasped.  
"Sorry? What are you saying?" Sakura asked, tears streaming down her face.  
"I love you…" Syaoran said in reply.  
He reached up and stroked her face lightly.  
"I love you…" he said again.  
"No… Syaoran… please don't die… please! You can't leave me! I love you too much!" Sakura sobbed, clutching on to him.  
By this point, Tomoyo and Meiling had emerged from the bushes and had gathered around the couple, followed by Yue and Keroberos. Meiling and Tomoyo clutched each other fearfully. Syaoran let out another cry of pain.  
"Syaoran! Please hold on!" Sakura cried.  
"I…" Syaoran started.  
His body grew limp as his hand dropped lifelessly from Sakura's face. Shock settled in and Sakura stared wide-eyed at her love. "Syaoran…?" she whispered.  
She began to hyperventilate, and tears streamed down her face. She let out a cry of agony, and buried her face in Syaoran's shoulder.  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Syaoran please!" she sobbed, clutching his lifeless body close.  
Tomoyo sank to the ground, unable to stand. Meiling stared unbelieving at the scene before her. Sakura broke into hysterical sobs, rocking back and forth muttering the word "no." Suddenly, she laid Syaoran on the ground and tore her cards from her pocket. She leafed through them, tossing each one aside.  
"No, no, no… there HAS to be a card that can help!" Sakura said frantically.  
She got about halfway through the deck, and then gave up, dropping the cards on the ground beside her. She broke into tears again. She could feel her heart tearing apart in her agony. Beside her, the cards began to glow. Sakura glanced over and saw the blank card on top of the pile. She reached over and picked it up. When she touched it, it began to glow brighter. The other cards floated up and circled around her, creating a magical blur of light. When the light disappeared, a name had appeared on the card.  
"The… 'Hope' card?" Sakura read.  
The cards circled lazily, as if they were waiting to see what Sakura would do. Suddenly, the Hope card began to glow again. It floated gently from Sakura's hand and disappeared into Syaoran. His body began to glow with the strange light. As soon as it had started, the strange occurrence stopped, and the Hope card appeared, lying on Syaoran's chest. Sakura picked it up. Then without warning, Syaoran's eyes shout open. He took a gasping, shuddering breath, and sat up, dazed.  
"Wha…what happened?" he whispered.  
Sakura stared wide-eyed at Syaoran for an instant, then threw her arms around him.  
"Syaoran! I though you were dead! You WERE dead! How did this happen?" she asked.  
"I… don't know…" he said, still dazed.  
Syaoran reached over and inspected his wound. The tear was still in his clothing and there was still a pool of blood around them, but there wasn't a scratch on him. Suddenly, the card started to glow faintly. It emitted a short burst of light, and then it disappeared. The rest of the cards floated swiftly back into Sakura's pocket. Syaoran reached up and brushed Sakura's tears ff her face. She looked at him lovingly.  
"I could never live without you…" she said.  
Syaoran smiled weakly at her, and Sakura leaned in and kissed him lightly. She then giggled and kissed him all over his face excitedly.  
"Never leave me…" she whispered.  
Syaoran reached up and wrapped his arms around Sakura, then kissed her softly. Then Yue suddenly spoke up.  
"I hate to interrupt, but there is still the matter of the girl…" he said.  
Sakura and Syaoran glanced towards Arya, who stood behind the barrier, casting spells at it, trying to break free.  
"We will take care of her," a voice said from the shadows.  
They all looked up and saw Eriol walking towards them, followed by three other people, two men and a woman. The first man was tall and slender with dark hair and eyes. He had a stylish goatee and was dressed in a black suit. The second man was short and his wispy blonde hair was balding. He was slightly over weight, and wore a blue suit with an ugly dark green tie. The woman was tall and thin, and very attractive. She had long flowing blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and perfectly shaped lips. She wore a short black skirt and a stylish red work jacket. The four of them approached Arya, and surrounded the barrier.  
"Drop the spell Sakura," Eriol said.  
Sakura hesitated, but did as she was asked. When the barrier dropped, Arya tried to unleash a spell, but the four magicians around her were too quick. They placed a sleeping spell on her, as well as several anti-magic binding spells. The attractive man picked her up and headed off into the shadows, followed closely by the chubby man, who had scooped up Kyra. The woman and Eriol approached Sakura and Syaoran, who both stood. The woman extended her arm and shook Sakura's hand.  
"You must be the famous Sakura… mistress of the Clow cards. I've heard a great deal about you," she said.  
Sakura blushed. The woman then shook Syaoran's hand.  
"And the heir to the Li family. It is truly a pleasure to meet you both," she added.  
"Who are you?" Sakura asked.  
The woman chuckled and said, "Please excuse my manners. My name is Karen Warner. I am a magician from America. I am a close friend of Eriol"  
Eriol, who had been silent up until now, nodded.  
"She is part of the United Federation of Magic," he said.  
Sakura stared at him blankly.  
"The what?" she said.  
"The United Federation of Magic, or UFM, is a secretly run organization meant to monitor and govern the magical community. All magic users are registered into the database, but don't worry about not hearing about us before Sakura… a lot of magic users have no idea there is an entire government for the magical community across the world. Only magical families that have been around for generations have active rolls in out politics. Although I am disappointed that Syaoran is lost on the issue… after all, his mother is head of the Chinese department. Your family runs things over in China," Karen explained.  
Syaoran frowned.  
"I knew the basics… I never had an interest in politics…" he said.  
Karen simply chuckled.  
"If I may…" Eriol interrupted, "I would like to apologize for not coming to your aid sooner, Sakura. I had to get the council together so we could figure out what was happening. Once we pieced the puzzle together, we came as fast as we could"  
Just then, the two men returned. They both shook hands with Sakura and Syaoran.  
"This is our associate from Russia, Dimitri Polokov," Karen said; gesturing to the tall, black haired man.  
"And this is our associate from Australia, Tyler Landen," she added, gesturing towards the chubby man.  
They both greeted everyone, then pulled Karen aside briefly. She then turned to the group and excused herself. Karen, Dimitri and Tyler all headed off again.  
"Eriol? What will happen to them?" Tomoyo asked meekly.  
"Well, Arya will be placed in a maximum security prison with powerful anti-magic spells around the whole building… and Kyra… well she will probably be released on probation. She will be closely monitored by the UFM for the time being," he explained.  
Tomoyo started to ask another question, but Eriol cut her off.  
"We will meet up soon, and the rest of your questions will be answered then. For now, I think it's best if you all go home and rest," he said.  
Everyone agreed reluctantly, and they all started off towards home, their minds still swimming with questions.

XXXX

The next day, Eriol called Sakura and asked her to gather everyone at Syaoran's house, so she grabbed Kero and headed over. When she arrived, Yue and Tomoyo were there waiting, as well as Syaoran, Meiling, Eriol, Karen, and two other people she didn't recognize. The first was a tall, slim brunette with sultry eyes and pouty lips. She had on dark eye shadow and dark red lipstick, and was wearing a short black skirt, matching jacket, fishnet stockings, and expensive looking black boots. The second person was a short, thin Japanese man with black hair and eyes. He was wearing a black pinstriped suit and a green tie. Karen greeted Sakura and led her to the dining room, where everyone sat around a large table. Sakura sat beside Syaoran and Kero sat on the table on front of Yue. Karen sat on the left of Eriol, who was at the head of the table. She cleared her throat."This is Izumo Kitkuchi, from Japan, and this is Claudia Jaques of France." She said, introducing the new people with a wave of her hand. "Now that we're all here, I think we should begin," Eriol said.  
"What exactly are we supposed to be discussing?" Tomoyo asked.  
"I know you all have questions, and I would like to answer them," Eriol replied simply.  
"I have one…" Sakura said quietly.  
Eriol nodded at her to continue.  
"What happened to Kyra and Arya?" Sakura asked.  
"Well, Arya is being held at a high security prison for magic abusers, but we're not quite sure what to do with Kyra yet. She has been through a lot of trauma lately," Karen replied.  
"Understandable," Meiling muttered.  
"I have another question… Why did it take so long for Arya to attack me? I mean, she had a whole year to do so, why didn't she do it sooner?" Sakura asked.  
"Well, we believe it's because she didn't want to clue you in to her and Kyra. If she had started attacking you the second they moved to town, then you would have put the pieces together. Waiting a bit would have thrown you of guard, especially since Syaoran returned. She probably figured that you were too distracted and would be taken by surprise," Eriol said.  
"But she didn't realize how powerful you and Syaoran are. She didn't expect for the two of you to be so hard to defeat. Arya wasted a lot of her reserved energy in trying to take the two of you down," Karen said.  
"She definitely wasn't planning on the two of you being so powerful. Also, she probably didn't even realize who you were, Syaoran. If she knew, she would have made sure that she attacked the two of you separately, because obviously the two of you together are a nearly unbeatable force," Karen added, winking at the two of them.  
"I bet she didn't expect Sakura to be so well-trained with her cards either. She might not have even realized that they were transformed and that they drew their energy directly from her," Eriol said.  
"Speaking of the cards…" Sakura said, then paused for a moment.  
She took a card out of her pocket and put it in the middle of the table. It was the Hope card, only now both the picture and the name were missing and the boarder was black instead of pink. Everyone around the table leaned in and took a good look at it.  
"It changed last night after… after it was used. How did it do that? How did it come here? I don't understand this," Sakura said.  
"Sakura, when you changed the cards, you changed their power. Who knows what that power is capable of? This isn't the first time you've had cards mysteriously created remember? Your cards sensed that you were in need of a new card, so they sent you one. And now that it's purpose has been fulfilled, the card has lost its power," Eriol explained.  
"You're faith that you have in your cards created the card that would give you hope. They know that you would never give up, and they wanted to give you hope for the future. It is your faith in your cards that gave them the power to save Syaoran. And the love you have for him only made that power stronger," Karen added.  
"Aaah, ze power of love…" Claudia said, in her thick French accent.  
Tomoyo and Meiling giggled silently and gave each other knowing looks. Just then, the door opened and Wei walked in followed by another person. Sakura gasped when she saw who it was. Darrien walked in and took a seat in between Syaoran and Izumo. He smiled at Sakura and nodded in greeting.  
"I believe you've met my son, Darrien," Izumo said.  
"Son? I didn't realize… I didn't even make that connection," Sakura said, astonished.  
Darrien chuckled, and then said, "The reason we came to Tomoeda was because of you. We sensed there was trouble and came to investigate. Of course, you solved the problem before we even scratched the surface"  
"You should have told me that you were here to help," Sakura said.  
"Well, I tried, but Syaoran is so overprotective…" Darrien said with a smirk.  
Syaoran blushed and sunk lower in his chair, but Sakura just smiled. Darrien shook his head and changed the subject.  
"Anyway, I'm sorry I was late. I was dealing with Kyra," he said.  
"Kyra? Really? Do you know what's going to happen to her?" Sakura asked.  
"Just like you Sakura, always concerned for others," Darrien said with a smile. "Kyra isn't being charged. She wasn't really involved with her sister's actions, and she wasn't aware that she was after Sakura either. In fact, she didn't even know Sakura has magic at all. Kyra lost most of her own magic when her sister's spell went wrong. She will be watched for a while, but for the most part, she's on her own now"  
"On her own? Will she be ok?" Tomoyo asked.  
"Oh yes… we've made arrangements for her to rent an apartment so she can finish out her last year of school, and afterwards, her inheritance should carry her wherever she wants to go. After all, with her sister in prison and the rest of her family deceased, she is the only descendant available to inherit the family's possessions and money," Darrien explained.  
Eriol cleared his throat then changed the subject.  
"Are there anymore questions?" He asked.  
Everyone was silent. Sakura couldn't think of anything else to ask, but she knew she could always ask any other questions later. After a brief pause, Eriol stood.  
"All right then, this meeting is concluded. Thank you all for coming," he said.  
Karen, Claudia, Izumo, and Darrien stood and shook hands with Eriol, Sakura and Syaoran, and then they left. Darrien stopped momentarily and called, "I'll see you on Monday!" then followed his father out.  
Eriol gave Sakura, Meiling, and Tomoyo hugs, then said goodbye to them all. After he left, Yue decided it would be best to leave and let Yukito return, and Kero decided to fly back to Sakura's house, so they said goodbye as well. After everyone was gone, Sakura, Meiling, Tomoyo, and Syaoran sat in the living room, their heads still swimming with the new information.  
"So now what?" Meiling asked, stretching out on the couch.  
"I suppose we just… carry on like before," Sakura replied.  
"I suppose… but it will be strange seeing Darrien and Kyra at school from now on," Tomoyo said.  
"Well in a way, I think it's kind of neat…. We have more friends that we can let in… you know, less secrecy," Sakura muttered.  
"Well, Syaoran DOES need some male friends anyway…besides Takashi anyway," Meiling agreed.  
"Who Darrien? What makes you think I'll WANT to be friends with him?" Syaoran asked.  
Sakura laughed and said, "Because he knows about the Clow cards and all, so he's someone you can talk to"  
"Well, we'll see," Syaoran grumbled. The girls giggled and smirked at each other. Sakura grinned, then she said, "You know guys… I have a feeling that things are going to work out great. I expect wonderful things for the future"  
Tomoyo and Meiling glanced at each other knowingly, and then gave Syaoran a sly look. He gave them a small smile then said, "You know… I believe you're right."

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry this chapter was so late... I just got a new job and things have been hectic. But I've got things back on track now! Thanks for reading my fic everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There is only one left.. TT Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! Oh, and once the last chapter is up, keep checking in, cuz I'm already planning a sequel! Bye bye for now!


	15. Syaoran's Birthday

A/N: I don't own CCS 

Syaoran's Birthday

It had been two months since Arya had been stopped, and things had seemed to return to normal. It was now early July, and summer break drew ever closer. Not only that, but Syaoran's birthday was days away.Syaoran and Darrien had become somewhat friendlier over the past two months, much like the girls had suspected. Things between everyone and Kyra were still awkward at times, but for the most part, they had all continued on being friends. Sakura had finally gotten around to telling her father all about the Clow Cards, and is reaction was quite startling. He had acted as if he had known all along. Of course he hadn't known about the cards at all, but he accepted it without problem anyways. When Syaoran's birthday finally arrived, Sakura and Tomoyo surprised him with a party hosted at Darrien's house. It was a rather small party; only Sakura, Meiling, Tomoyo, and of course, Darrien, we're there. They all knew Syaoran would prefer it that way. He had received gifts from Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, Kyra, Takashi, Wei, and his mother previously, so celebrating his birthday with fewer people was perfect for him. After eating dinner and having cake, which was, of course, chocolate, they decided to open the presents. The first thing he opened was from Meiling and Tomoyo. They had worked together to make him some wonderful new clothes, and they also put together a battle tape with highlights of all Syaoran's best fights. Darrien got him some books on Japanese sorcery, which Sakura didn't understand. Finally, Syaoran opened Sakura's gift. It was a picture of the two of them in matching battle costumes that was in a hand-made wooden frame. Sakura had worked for days to make the frame the perfect size and to fit the glass neatly. The frame was a dark green, and in each corner was a tiny cherry blossom. Syaoran beamed.  
"Wow Sakura… did you make this?" he asked.  
"Yes… I know it's nothing special… but I thought it was a good idea…" Sakura replied.  
"No, it's amazing! I love it!" Syaoran said, kissing her on the cheek.  
Sakura smiled at him.  
"I'm glad you like it."  
After the presents, everyone settled down to watch a movie. Once it started to get late, Darrien's mother came in and said that they should all head home.  
"I'm gunna walk Sakura home, so you go on without me, ok Meiling?" Syaoran said as they were putting on their shoes.  
"That's all right. I was going to walk Tomoyo home anyway," Meiling said, smiling at Tomoyo.  
"Uh… I'm already am home… so I'll just walk myself to bed," Darrien said with a laugh.  
"Ok, that was lame…" Meiling retorted, rolling her eyes.  
Darrien just grinned at her. They all said goodnight and wished Syaoran a happy birthday, then they headed their separate ways. Sakura and Syaoran walked down the darkened street hand in hand. Suddenly, Syaoran stopped, turned Sakura towards him, and kissed her. When they pulled apart, Sakura gazed at him questioningly.  
"What was that for?" Sakura asked.  
"Do I need a reason to kiss you?" Syaoran replied.  
Sakura laughed and said, "Well, no I suppose not."  
Syaoran grinned, then kissed her again. After a moment, they broke the kiss and kept walking. Sakura smiled happily and gripped Syaoran's hand tightly. He grinned back at her. After a few minutes of silence, Syaoran suddenly stopped again. Sakura raised an eyebrow in question. He turned to her and gazed into her eyes.  
"Can I ask you something?" he asked.  
"Of course," Sakura replied.  
Syaoran blushed and paused for a moment, the said, "Sakura… I love you more than I could ever love anyone or anything else in this world. You are everything to me, and I want to be with you always."  
Sakura smiled at him and opened her mouth to speak, but Syaoran touched his finger to her lips to cut her off. He fumbled around in his pocket for a moment, and then pulled out a small box. When Sakura saw it, her heart leapt into her throat.  
"Sakura… will…will you marry me…?" Syaoran muttered shyly.  
Sakura beamed as Syaoran opened the box, revealing a silver ring with small pink stones in it, in the shape of a cherry blossom. Inside the ring was engraved writing, which said, 'I will love you forever.'  
Syaoran glanced at Sakura, waiting for her answer. She gazed back at him lovingly, tears welling up into her eyes.  
"Of course Syaoran! Of course I'll marry you!" she said, leaping into his arms.  
Syaoran laughed, and then slid the ring onto her finger. Sakura gazed at it, then kissed Syaoran.  
"I love you Syaoran," she whispered.  
Syaoran grinned, and then said, "I love you too."

XXXX

The next day, Sakura called Tomoyo the second she woke up. As soon as she heard the news, Tomoyo squealed in excitement, then three-way called Meiling, who happened to already know. Apparently, Syaoran had told her the night before practically the second he got home. The three girls spent a good hour on the phone talking about wedding plans, and discussing how they should tell everyone. But by the time they arrived at school, all their friends had found out. Apparently Syaoran had told Darrien the previous night as well, and Darrien had called Kyra, who then told the rest of their friends. There were a lot of excited giggles and cheerful smiles as Sakura and Syaoran entered the classroom. All either of them could do was stand and smile. They were just thankful that word hadn't gotten to their families yet. Syaoran wasn't too concerned with telling his mother, because he knew that she loved Sakura already. And Sakura wasn't nervous about telling her father either, but they were both terrified of telling Touya. He and Syaoran had finally started getting along, at least as good as they could. They had settled on a mutual respect and didn't talk to each other at all other than the polite greetings and such. But they were afraid Touya would lapse back into hating Syaoran again. A few days later, Syaoran informed Sakura that he had told his mother, and that she was thrilled. This news gave new courage to Sakura, who then marched straight home to tell her father and Touya. When she got home, both of them were conveniently sitting around the table sipping tea, along with Yukito and Kero, who had taken to hanging around the house now that he no longer needed to hide. Sakura took a deep breath, and then joined them."I have something to tell you," she started.  
All four of them stopped and stared at Sakura, waiting for her to continue. She blushed and cleared her throat.  
"Well… um… Syaoran and I… we… we've decided to get married," she stuttered.  
Sakura's father and Yukito instantly stood and gave Sakura hugs, congratulating her. Kero looked at hr funny.  
"You're only 17 Sakura…" he said.  
Sakura laughed and said, "Well we're not getting married tomorrow!"  
Kero laughed then said, "Oh… ok then! Well, then congratulations."  
Sakura thanked him, and then turned to Touya, who had been silent the whole time. He was staring at his hands, avoiding her gaze. Finally, he looked up and forced a smile.  
"Congratulations Sakura…" he said.  
Sakura knew his congratulations were sincere, despite the fake smile, and she gave him a huge hug.  
"Thanks you guys!" she said happily.  
By the time the next week rolled in, everyone they knew had been told of the engagement. Sakura and Syaoran had decided to hold off on the wedding though, and wait until they were done college before getting married. They had both decided to enroll in Tomoeda University, where her father worked, then they would move to Hong Kong afterwards. Syaoran wanted to take some business courses to prepare for when he had to take over the family businesses, and Sakura wanted to take general studies in order to figure out a good career for her. Tomoyo had already signed up for the design and media classes, and Meiling didn't want to be left out, so she applied at the university as well. They were all excited. All their friends were going to the same school, AND they got to live on campus. Things were going wonderfully now, and everyone was happy, especially Sakura and Syaoran, who finally got to be together without any problems. They were getting everything they could have ever hoped for and they knew that things would work out. At last, things were perfect.

THE END

Hey everyone! Sorry that this chapter is short and well, rushed, but it was only needed to lead into the sequel. yay sequel! lol Anyway, thanks everyone for reading "The Power of Hope!" I hope you enjoyed it!  
-Aki


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